THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


IN  THE  MONSTER'S  CLUTCHES. 
Body  and  Brain  on  Fire. 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER 


OR 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE  OF  STRONG  DRINK 


BY 


T.  S.  ARTHUR 


AUTHOR  OF  "TEN  NIGHTS  IN  A  BAR-ROOM,"  "THREE  YEARS  IM 
A  MAN-TRAP,"  "  CAST  ADRIFT, "  "DANGER,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK 

JOHN  W.  LOVELL  COMPANY 
142  TO  150  WORTH  STREET 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1877,  by 

HUBBARD  BROS., 
In  the  Office  of  t'ae  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


INTRODUCTION. 


IN  preparing  this,  his  latest  volume,  the  author  found 
himself  embarrassed  from  the  begin iiing,  because  of  the 
large  amount  of  material  which  came  into  his  hands,  and  the 
consequent  difficulty  of  selection  and  condensation.  There  is 
not  a  chapter  which  might  not  have  been  extended  to  twice  its 
present  length,  nor  a  fact  stated,  or  argument  used,  which 
might  not  have  been  supplemented  by  many  equally  pertinent 
and  conclusive.  The  extent  to  which  alcohol  curses  the  whole 
people  cannot  be  shown  in  a  few  pages :  the  sad  and  terrible 
history  would  fill  hundreds  of  volumes.  And  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  curse  which  this  poisonous  substance  lays  upon 
the  souls  and  bodies  of  men.  Fearful  as  is  the  record  which 
will  be  found  in  the  chapters  devoted  to  the  curse  of  drink,  let 
the  reader  bear  in  mind  that  a  thousandth  part  has  not  been 
told. 

In  treating  of  the  means  of  reformation,  prevention  and 
cure,  our  effort  has  been  to  give  to  each  agency  the  largest  possi- 
ble credit  for  what  it  is  doing.  There  is  no  movement,  organi- 
zation or  work,  however  broad  or  limited  in  its  sphere,  which 
has  for  its  object  the  cure  of  drunkenness  in  the  individual,  or 
the  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  the  State,  that  is  not 
contributing  its  measure  of  service  to  the  great  cause  every 
true  temperance  advocate  has  at  heart ;  and  what  we  largely 
need  is,  toleration  for  those  who  do  not  see  with  us,  nor  act 
with  us  in  our  special  methods.  Let  us  never  forget  the  Di- 
vine admonition — "  Forbid  him  not :  for  he  that  is  not  against 

us  is  for  us."  H  -|  -f  ^?O^£» 

JL  *  i^i  /  \ 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

Patience,  toleration  and  self-repression  are  of  vital  import- 
ance in  any  good  cause.  If  we  cannot  see  with  another,  let  us 
be  careful  that,  by  opposition,  we  do  not  cripple  him  in  his 
work.  If  we  can  assist  him  by  friendly  counsel  to  clearer 
seeing,  or,  by  a  careful  study  of  his  methods,  gain  a  large  effi- 
ciency for  our  own,  far  more  good  will  be  done  than  by  hard 
antagonism,  which  rarely  helps,  and  too  surely  blinds  and 
hinders. 

Our  book  treats  of  the  curse  and  cure  of  drunkenness.  How 
much  better  not  to  come  under  the  terrible  curse !  How  much 
better  to  run  no  risks  where  the  malady  is  so  disastrous,  and 
the  cure  so  difficult ! 

To  young  men  who  are  drifting  easily  into  the  dangerous 
drinking  habits  of  society,  we  earnestly  commend  the  chapters 
in  which  will  be  found  the  medical  testimony  against  alcohol, 
and  also  the  one  on  "  The  Growth  and  Power  of  Appetite." 
They  will  see  that  it  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  use  alcoholic 
drinks  regularly  without  laying  the  foundation  for  both  physi- 
cal and  mental  diseases,  and,  at  the  same  time,  lessening  his 
power  to  make  the  best  of  himself  in  his  life-work ;  while  be- 
yond this  lies  the  awful  risk  of  acquiring  an  appetite  which 
may  enslave,  degrade  and  ruin  him,  body  and  soul,  as  it  is  de- 
degrading  and  ruining  its  tens  of  thousands  yearly. 

It  is  sincerely  hoped  that  many  may  be  led  by  the  facts 
here  presented,  to  grapple  with  the  monster  and  to  thus  pro- 
mote his  final  overthrow. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 
The  Monster,  Strong  Drink,       .         .        •  .13 

CHAPTER  II. 
It  Curses  the  Body, 25 

CHAPTER  III. 
It  Curses  the  Body — Continued,         .        .        .        •  45 

CHAPTER  IV. 
It  Curses  the  Soul,     .......  59 

CHAPTER  V. 

Not  a  Food,  and  very  Limited  in  its  Range  as  a 

Medicine, 83 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Growth  and  Power  of  Appetite, .        .        .        .         103 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Means  of  Cure, 131 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Inebriate  Asylums, .         141 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Reformatory  Homes, 165 

CHAPTER  X. 

Tobacco  as  an  Incitant  to  the  Use  of  Alcoholic  Stimu- 
lauts,  and  an  Obstacle  in  the  way  of  a  Perma- 
nent Reformation, 201 

CHAPTER  XI. 
The  Woman's  Crusade, 209 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union,        223 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Reform  Clubs, 247 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Gospel  Temperance, .        259 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Temperance  Coffee-Houses  and  Friendly  Inns,  .        .         272 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Temperance  Literature,     ......         281 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
License  a  Failure  and  a  Disgrace,      ....        291 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Prohibition,  ."04 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PACK 

IN  THE  MONSTER'S  CLUTCHES, 2 

GOD'S  BEST  BEVERAGE,  PURE  WATER,    ...  3 

HEAPING  BURDENS  UPON  POVERTY,          ...  21 

AN  UTTER  WRECK, 41 

"TAKE  WARNING  BY  MY  CAREER,"         ...  65 

CRAZED  BY  DRINK, 79 

ALCOHOL  AND  GAMBLING  (12  sequence  pictures),       125-130 

FOUR  STAGES  OF  THE  DOWNWARD  COURSE,     .        .  199 

A  VICTIM  OF  THE  DRINKING  CLUB,          .        .        -  243 

FINANCIAL  VIEW  OF  THE  LICENSE  SYSTEM,     .        .  289 


11 


"  Wo 3  unto  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink, 
that  puttest  thy  bottle  to  him,  and  makest  him 
drunken  also." — HABAKKUK  ii,  15. 


12 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  MONSTEE,  STKONG  DRINK. 

are  two  remarkable  passages  in  a  very 
-L  old  book,  known  as  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon, 
which  cannot  be  read  too  often,  nor  pondered  too 
deeply.  Let  us  quote  them  here : 

1.  "Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  raging;  and 
whosoever  is  deceived  thereby  is  not  wise. 

2.  "Who  hath  woe?  who  hath  sorrow?  who  hath 
contentions  ?  who  hath  babblings?  who  hath  wounds 
without  cause  ?  who  hath  redness  of  eyes  ?  They  that 
tarry  long  at  the  wine ;  they  that  go  to  seek  mixed 
wine.     Look  not  thou  upon  the  wine  when  it  is  red, 
when  it  giveth  his  color  in  the  cup,  when  it  moveth 
itself  aright.     At  the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent 
and  stingeth  like  an  adder." 

It  is  many  thousands  of  years  since  this  record 
was  made,  and  to-day,  as  in  that  far  distant  age  of 
the  world,  wine  is  a  mocker,  and  strong  drink  raging; 
and  still,  as  then,  they  who  tarry  long  at  the  wine; 
who  go  to  seek  mixed  wine,  discover  that,  "  at  the 
last"  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stingeth  like  an 
adder. 

This  mocking  and  raging!  These  bitings  and 
stingings !  These  woes  and  woundings !  Alas,  for 
13 


14  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

the  exceeding  bitter  cry  of  their  pain,  which  is 
heard  above  every  other  cry  of  sorrow  and  suffering. 

ALCOHOL  AN  ENEMY. 

The  curse  of  strong  drink !  Where  shall  we 
begin,  where  end,  or  how,  in  the  clear  and  truthful 
sentences  that  wrest  conviction  from  doubt,  make 
plain  the  allegations  we  shall  bring  against  an 
enemy  that  is  sowing  disease,  poverty,  crime  and 
sorrow  throughout  the  land  ? 

Among  our  most  intelligent,  respectable  and  in- 
fluential people,  this  enemy  finds  a  welcome  and  a 
place  of  honor.  Indeed,  with  many  he  is  regarded 
as  a  friend  and  treated  as  such.  Every  possible 
opportunity  is  given  him  to  gain  favor  in  the  house- 
hold and  with  intimate  and  valued  friends.  He  is 
given  the  amplest  confidence  and  the  largest  free- 
dom; and  he  always  repays  this  confidence  with 
treachery  and  spoliation ;  too  often  blinding  and 
deceiving  his  victims  while  his  work  of  robbery  goes 
on.  He  is  not  only  a  robber,  but  a  cruel  master ; 
and  his  bondsmen  and  abject  slaves  are  to  be  found 
in  hundreds  and  thousands,  and  even  tens  of  thou- 
sands, of  our  homes,  from  the  poor  dwelling  of  the 
day-laborer,  up  to  the  palace  of  the  merchant-prince. 

PLACE  AND  POWER  IN  THE  HOUSEHOLD. 

Of  this  fact  no  one  is  ignorant ;  and  yet,  strange 
to  tell,  large  numbers  of  our  most  intelligent,  re- 
spectable and  influential  people  continue  to  smile 
upon  this  enemy ;  to  give  him  place  and  power  ID 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  ^5 

their  households,  and  to  cherish  him  as  a  friend ; 
but  with  this  singular  reserve  of  thought  and  pur- 
pose, that  he  is  to  be  trusted  just  so  far  and  no  far- 
ther. He  is  so  pleasant  and  genial,  that,  for  the 
sake  of  his  favor,  they  are  ready  to  encounter  the 
risk  of  his  acquiring,  through  the  license  they  afford, 
the  vantage-ground  of  a  pitiless  enemy  ! 

But,  it  is  not  only  in  their  social  life  that  the 
people  hold  this  enemy  in  favorable  regard,  and 
give  him  the  opportunity  to  hurt  and  destroy.  Our 
great  Republic  has  entered  into  a  compact  with  him, 
and,  for  a  money-consideration,  given  him  the 

FREEDOM  OF  THE  NATION; 

so  that  he  can  go  up  and  down  the  land  at  will. 
And  not  only  has  our  great  Republic  done  this; 
but  the  States  of  which  it  is  composed,  with  only 
one  or  two  exceptions,  accord  to  him  the  same  free- 
dom. Still  more  surprising,  in  almost  every  town 
and  city,  his  right  to  plunder,  degrade,  enslave  and 
destroy  the  people  has  been  established  under  the 
safe  guarantee  of  law. 

Let  us  give  ourselves  to  the  sober  consideration 
of  what  we  are  suffering  at  his  hands,  and  take 
measures  of  defense  and  safety,  instead  of  burying 
our  heads  in  the  sand,  like  the  foolish  ostrich,  while 
the  huntsmen  are  sweeping  down  upon  us. 

ENORMOUS  CONSUMPTION. 

Only  those  who  have  given  the  subject  careful 
consideration  have  any  true  idea  of  the  enormous 


16  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

annual  consumption,  in  this  country,  of  spirits, 
wines  and  malt  liquors.  Dr.  Hargreaves,  in  "  Our 
Wasted  Resources,"  gives  these  startling  figures: 
It  amounted  in  1870  to  72,425,353  gallons  of  do- 
mestic spirits,  188,527,120  gallons  of  fermented 
liquors,  1,441,747  gallons  of  imported  spirits, 
9,088,894  gallons  of  wines,  34,239  gallons  of  spirit- 
uous compounds,  and  1,012,754  gallons  of  ale,  beer, 
etc.,  or  a  total  of  272,530,107  gallons  for  1870,  with 
a  total  increase  of  30,000,000  gallons  in  1871,  and 
of  35,000,000  gallons  in  addition  in  1872. 

All  this  in  a  single  year,  and  at  a  cost  variously 
estimated  at  from  six  to  seven  hundred  millions  of 
dollars !  Or,  a  sum,  as  statistics  tell  us,  nearly  equal 
to  the  cost  of  all  the  flour,  cotton  and  woolen  goods, 
boots  and  shoes,  clothing,  and  books  and  newspapers 
purchased  by  the  people  in  the  same  period  of  time. 

If  this  were  all  the  cost  ?  If  the  people  wasted 
no  more  than  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars  on 
these  beverages  every  year,  the  question  of  their  use 
would  be  only  one  of  pecuniary  loss  or  gain.  But 
what  farther,  in  connection  with  this  subject,  are  we* 
told  by  statistics?  Why,  that,  in  consequence  of 
using  these  beverages,  we  have  six  hundred  thou- 
sand drunkards ;  and  that  of  these,  sixty  thousand 
die  every  year.  That  we  have  over  three  hundred 
murders  and  four  hundred  suicides.  •  That  over  two 
hundred  thousand  children  are  left  homeless  and 
friendless.  And  that  at  least  eighty  per  cent,  of  all 
the  crime  and  pauperism  of  the  land  arises  from  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  17 

consumption  of  this  enormous  quantity  of  intoxica- 
ting drinks. 

In  this  single  view,  the  question  of  intemperance 
assumes  a  most  appalling  aspect.  The 

POVERTY  AND  DESTITUTION 

found  in  so  large  a  portion  of  our  laboring  classes, 
and  their  consequent  restlessness  and  discontent, 
come  almost  entirely  from  the  waste  of  substance, 
idleness  and  physical  incapacity  for  work,  which 
attend  the  free  use  of  alcoholic  beverages.  Of  the 
six  or  seven  hundred  millions  of  dollars  paid  an- 
nually for  these  beverages,  not  less  than  two-thirds 
ure  taken  out  of  the  earnings  of  our  artisans  and 
laborers,  and  those  who,  like  them,  work  for  wages. 

LOSS  TO  LABOR. 

But  the  loss  does  not,  of  course,  stop  here.  The 
consequent  waste  of  bodily  vigor,  and  the  idleness 
that  is  ever  the  sure  accompaniment  of  drinking, 
rob  this  class  of  at  least  as  much  more.  Total  ab- 
stinence societies,  building  associations,  and  the  use 
of  banks  for  savings,  instead  of  the  dram-sellers' 
banks  for  losings,  would  do  more  for  the  well-being 
of  our  working  classes  than  all  the  trades-unions  or 
labor  combinations,  that  ever  have  or  ever  will  exist. 
The  laboring  man's  protective  union  lies  in  his  own 
good  common  sense,  united  with  temperance,  self- 
denial  and  economy.  There  are  very  many  in  our 
land  who  know  this  way ;  and  their  condition,  as 

compared  with  those  who  know  it  not,  or  knowing, 
2 


18  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

will  not  walk  therein,  is   found  to  be  in  striking 
contrast. 

TAXATION. 

Besides  the  wasting  drain  for  drink,  and  the  loss 
in  national  wealth,  growing  out  of  the  idleness  and 
diminished  power  for  work,  that  invariably  follows 
the  use  of  alcohol  in  any  of  its  forms,  the  people  are 
heavily  taxed  for  the  repression  and  punishment  of 
crimes,  and  the  support  of  paupers  and  destitute 
children.  A  fact  or  two  will  give  the  reader  some 
idea  of  what  this  enormous  cost  must  be.  In  "  The 
Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York,"  is 
this  sentence :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  that,  of  all 
the  proximate  sources  of  crime,  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors  is  the  most  prolific  and  the  most 
deadly.  Of  other  causes  it  may  be  said  that  they 
slay  their  thousands;  of  this  it  may  be  acknowl- 
edged that  it  slays  its  tens  of  thousands.  The  com- 
mittee asked  for  the  opinion  of  the  jail  officers  in 
nearly  every  county  in  the  State  as  to  the  propor- 
tion of  commitments  due,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, to  strong  drink." 

The  whole  number  of  commitments  is  given  in 
these  words :  "  Not  less  than  60,000  to  70,000  [or 
the  sixtieth  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  State 
of  New  York]  human  beings — men,  women  and 
children — either  guilty,  or  arrested  on  suspicion  of 
being  guilty  of  crime,  pass  every  year  through  these 
institutions."  The  answers  made  to  the  committee 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  19 

by  the  jail  officers,  varied  from  two-thirds  as  the 
lowest,  to  nine-tenths  as  the  highest ;  and,  on  taking 
the  average  of  their  figures,  it  gave  seven-eighths 
as  the  proportion  of  commitments  for  crime  directly 
ascribed  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks ! 

Taking  this  as  the  proportion  of  those  who  are 
made  criminals  through  intemperance,  let  us  get  at 
some  estimate  of  the  cost  to  tax-payers.  We 
find  it  stated  in  Tract  No.  28,  issued  by  the  Na- 
tional Temperance  Society,  that  "  a  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  Ulster  County  Temperance  So- 
ciety, in  1861,  for  the  express  purpose  of  ascertain- 
ing, from  reliable  sources,  the  percentage  on  every 
dollar  tax  paid  to  the  county  to  support  her  paupers 
and  criminal  justice.  The  committee,  after  due 
examination,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  upwards 
of  sixty  cents  on  the  dollar  was  for  the  above  pur- 
pose. This  amount  was  required,  according  to  law, 
to  be  paid  by  every  tax-payer  as  &  penalty,  or  ratlicr 
as  a  rum  bill,  for  allowing  the  liquor  traffic  to  be 
carried  on  in  the  above  county.  What  is  said  of 
Ulster  County,  may,  more  or  less,  if  a  like  examina- 
tion were  entered  into,  be  said  of  every  other  county, 
not  only  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but  in  every 
county  in  the  United  States." 

From  the  same  tract  we  take  this  statement :  "  In 
a  document  published  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  New  York,  for  1863,  being  the  report  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  State  to  the  Legislature,  we  have  the 
following  statements :  '  The  whole  number  of  pau- 


20  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

pers  relieved  during  the  same  period,  was  261,252. 
During  the  year  1862,  257,354.'  These  numbers 
would  he  in  the  ratio  of  one  pauper  annually  to 
every  fifteen  inhabitants  throughout  the  State.  In 
nn  examination  made  into  the  history  of  those  pau- 
pers by  a  competent  committee,  seven-eighths  of 
them  were  reduced  to  this  low  and  degraded  condi- 
tion, directly  or  indirectly,  through  intemperance." 

CURSING  THE  POOR. 

Looking  at  our  laboring  classes,  with  the  fact  before 
us,  that  the  cost  of  the  liquor  sold  annually  by  retail 
dealers  is  equal  to  nearly  $25  for  every  man,  worn  tin 
and  child  in  our  whole  population,  and  we  can 
readily  see  why  so  much  destitution  is  to  be  found 
among  them.  Throwing  out  those  who  abstain 
altogether ;  the  children,  and  a  large  proportion  of 
women,  and  those  who  take  a  glass  only  now  and 
then,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  for  the  rest  the 
average  of  cost  must  be  more  than  treble.  Among 
working  men  who  drink  the  cheaper  beverages,  the 
ratio  of  cost  to  each  cannot  fall  short  of  a  hundred 
dollars  a  year.  With  many,  drink  consumes  from 
a  fourth  to  one-half  of  their  entire  earnings.  Is  it, 
then,  any  wonder  that  so  much  poverty  and  suffer- 
ing are  to  be  found  among  them  ? 

CRIME  AND  PAUPERISM. 

Tho  causes  Jiat  produce  crime  and  pauperism  in 
our  own  country,  work  the  same  disastrous  results 
in  other  lands  where  intoxicants  are  used.  An 


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THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  23 

English  writer,  speaking  of  the  sad  effects  of  in- 
temperance in  Great  Britain,  says  :  "  One  hundred 
million  pounds,  which  is  now  annually  wasted,  is  a 
sum  as  great  as  was  spent  in  seven  years  upon  all 
the  railways  of  the  kingdom — in  the  very  heyday 
of  railway  projects ;  a  sum  so  vast,  that  if  saved 
annually,  for  seven  years,  would  blot  out  the  na- 
tional debt !"  Another  writer  says,  "  that  in  the 
year  1865,  over  £6,000,000,  or  a  tenth  part  of  the 
whole  national  revenue,  was  required  to  support  her 
paupers."  Dr.  Lees,  of  London,  in  speaking  of 
Ireland,  says :  "  Ireland  has  been  a  poor  nation 
from  want  of  capital,  and  has  wanted  capital  chiefly 
because  the  people  have  preferred  swallowing  it  to 
saving  it."  The  Kev.  G.  Holt,  chaplain  of  the 
Birmingham  Workhouse,  says:  "From  my  own 
experience,  I  am  convinced  of  the  accuracy  of  a 
statement  made  by  the  late  governor,  that  of  every 
one  hundred  persons  admitted,  ninety-nine  were 
reduced  to  this  state  of  humiliation  and  dependence, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  through  the  prevalent 
and  ruinous  drinking  usages." 

Mr.  Charles  Buxton,  M.  P.,  in  his  pamphlet, 
"  How  to  Stop  Drunkenness,"  says :  "  It  would  not 
be  too  much  to  say  that  if  all  drinking  of  fer- 
mented liquors  could  be  done  away,  crime  of  every 
kind  would  fall  to  a  fourth  of  its  present  amount, 
and  the  whole  tone  of  moral  feeling  in  the  lower 
order  might  be  indefinitely  raised.  Not  only  does 
this  vice  produce  all  kinds  of  wanton  mischief,  but 


24  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

it  has  also  a  negative  effect  of  great  importance. 
It  is  the  mightiest  of  all  the  forces  that  clog  the 
progress  of  good.  *  *  *  The  struggle  of  the  school, 
the  library  and  the  church,  all  united  against  the 
beer-shop  and  the  gin-palace,  is  but  one  development 
of  the  war  between  Heaven  and  hell.  It  is,  in  short, 
intoxication  that  fills  our  jails;  it  is  intoxication 
that  fills  our  lunatic  asylums ;  it  is  intoxication  that 
fills  our  work-houses  with  poor.  Were  it  not  for 
this  one  cause,  pauperism  would  be  nearly  extin- 
guished in  England." 

THE  BLIGHT  EVERYWHERE. 

We  could  go  on  and  fill  pages  with  corroborative 
facts  and  figures,  drawn  from  the  most  reliable 
sources.  But  these  are  amply  sufficient  to  show  the 
extent  and  magnitude  of  the  curse  which  the  liquor 
traffic  has  laid  upon  our  people.  Its  blight  is 
everywhere — on  our  industries,  on  our  social  life; 
on  our  politics,  and  even  on  our  religion. 

And,  now,  let  us  take  the  individual  man  him- 
self, and  see  in  what  manner  this  treacherous  enemy 
deals  with  him  when  he  gets  him  into  his  power. 


CHAPTER  II. 

IT  CUKSES  THE  BODY. 

as  to  the  body.  One  would  suppose,  from 
the  marred  and  scarred,  and  sometimes  awfully 
disfigured  forms  and  faces  of  men  who  have  indulged 
in  intoxicating  drinks,  which  are  to  be  seen  every- 
where and  among  all  classes  of  society,  that  there 
would  be  no  need  of  other  testimony  to  show  that 
alcohol  is  an  enemy  to  the  body.  And  yet,  strange 
to  say,  men  of  good  sense,  clear  judgment  and  quick 
perception  in  all  moral  questions  and  in  the  general 
affairs  of  life,  are  often  so  blind,  or  infatuated  here, 
as  to  affirm  that  this  substance,  alcohol,  which  they 
use  under  the  various  forms  of  wine,  brandy,  whisky, 
gin,  ale  or  beer,  is  not  only  harmless,  when  taken  in 
moderation — each  being  his  own  judge  as  to  what 
"  moderation  "  means — but  actually  useful  and  nu- 
tritious ! 

Until  within  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  a 
large  proportion  of  the  medical  profession  not  only 
favored  this  view,  but  made  constant  prescription  of 
alcohol  in  one  form  or  another,  the  sad  results  of 
which  too  often  made  their  appearance  in  exascerba- 
tions  of  disease,  or  in  the  formation  of  intemperate 
25 


2C  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

habits  among  their  patients.  Since  then,  the  chemist 
and  the  physiologist  have  subjected  alcohol  to  the 
most  rigid  tests,  carried  on  often  for  years,  and  with 
a  faithfulness  that  could  not  be  satisfied  with  guess 
work,  or  inference,  or  hasty  conclusion. 

ALCOHOL  NOT  A  FOOD  AND  OF  DOUBTFUL  USE  AS  A 
MEDICINE. 

As  a  result  of  these  carefully- conducted  and  long- 
continued  examinations  and  experiments,  the  medi- 
cal profession  stands  to-day  almost  as  a  unit  against 
alcohol;  and  makes  solemn  public  declaration  to 
the  people  that  it  "is  not  shown  to  have  a 
definite  food  value  by  any  of  the  usual  methods 
of  chemical  analysis  or  physiological  investiga- 
tions;" and  that  as  a  medicine  its  range  is  very 
limited,  admitting  often  of  a  substitute,  and  that  it 
should  never  be  taken  unless  prescribed  by  a  phy- 
sician. 

Reports  of  these  investigations  to  which  we  have 
referred  have  appeared,  from  time  to  time,  in  the 
medical  journals  of  Europe  and  America,  and  their 
results  are  now  embodied  in  many  of  the  standard 
and  most  reliable  treatises  and  text-books  of  the 
medical  profession. 

In  this  chapter  we  shall  endeavor  to  give  our 
readers  a  description  of  the  changes  and  deteriora- 
tions which  take  place  in  the  blood,  nerves,  mem- 
branes, tissues  and  organs,  in  consequence  of  the 
continued  introduction  of  alcohol  into  the  human 
body ;  and  in  doing  so,  we  shall  quote  freely  from 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  27 

medical  writers,  in  order  that  our  readers  may  have 
the  testimony  before  them  in  its  directest  form,  and 
so  be  able  to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  its  value. 

DIGESTION. 

And  here,  in  order  to  give  those  who  are  not 
familiar  with  the  process  of  digestion,  a  clear  idea 
of  that  important  operation,  and  the  effect  produced 
when  alcohol  is  taken  with  food,  we  quote  from  the 
lecture  of  an  English  physician,  Dr.  Henry  Monroe, 
on  "The  Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol."  He 
says: 

"  Every  kind  of  substance  employed  by  man  as 
food  consists  of  sugar,  starch,  oil  and  glutinous 
matters,  mingled  together  in  various  proportions; 
these  are  designed  for  the  support  of  the  animal 
frame.  The  glutinous  principles  of  food — -Jibrine, 
albumen  and  casein — are  employed  to  build  up  the 
structure ;  while  the  oil,  starch  and  sugar  are  chiefly 
used  to  generate  heat  in  the  body. 

"  The  first  step  of  the  digestive  process  is  the 
breaking  up  of  the  food  in  the  mouth  by  means  of 
the  jaws  and  teeth.  On  this  being  done,  the  saliva, 
a  viscid  liquor,  is  poured  into  the  mouth  from  the 
salivary  glands,  and  as  it  mixes  with  the  food,  it 
performs  a  very  important  part  in  the  operation  of 
digestion,  rendering  the  starch  of  the  food  soluble, 
and  gradually  changing  it  into  a  sort  of  sugar,  after 
which  the  other  principles  become  more  miscible 
with  it:  Nearly  a  pint  of  saliva  is  furnished  every 
2G 


28  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

twenty-four  hours  for  the  use  of  an  adult.  When 
the  food  has  been  masticated  and  mixed  with  the 
saliva,  it  is  then  passed  into  the  stomach,  where  it 
is  acted  upon  by  a  juice  secreted  by  the  filaments  of 
that  organ,  and  poured  into  the  stomach  in  large 
quantities  whenever  food  comes  in  contact  with  its 
mucous  coats.  It  consists  of  a  dilute  acid  known  to 
the  chemists  as  hydrochloric  acid,  composed  of  hy- 
drogen and  chlorine,  united  together  in  certain 
definite  proportions.  The  gastric  juice  contains,  also, 
a  peculiar  organic-ferment  or  decomposing  substance, 
containing  nitrogen — something  of  the  nature  of 
yeast — termed  pepsine,  which  is  easily  soluble  in 
the  acid  just  named.  That  gastric  juice  acts  as  a 
simple  chemical  solvent,  is  proved  by  the  fact  that, 
after  death,  it  has  been  known  to  dissolve  the 
stomach  itself. 

ALCOHOL  RETARDS  DIGESTION. 

"  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that,  after  a  good  din- 
ner, a  glass  of  spirits  or  beer  assists  digestion ;  or 
that  any  liquor  containing  alcohol — even  bitter 
beer — can  in  any  way  assist  digestion.  Mix  some 
bread  and  meat  with  gastric  juice;  place  them  in  a 
phial,  and  keep  that  phial  in  a  sand-bath  at  the 
slow  heat  of  98  degrees,  occasionally  shaking  briskly 
the  contents  to  imitate  the  motion  of  the  stomach ; 
you  will  find,  after  six  or  eight  hours,  the  whole 
contents  blended  into  one  pultaceous  mass.  If  to 
another  phial  of  food  and  gastric  juice,  treated  in 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  29 

the  same  way,  I  add  a  glass  of  pale  ale  or  a  quantity 
of  alcohol,  at  the  end  of  seven  or  eight  hours,  or 
even  some  days,  the  food  is  scarcely  acted  upon  at 
all.  This  is  a  fact;  and  if  you  are  led  to  ask  why, 
I  answer,  because  alcohol  has  the  peculiar  power  of 
chemically  affecting  or  decomposing  the  gastric 
juice  by  precipitating  one  of  its  principal  constitu- 
ents, viz.,  pepsine,  rendering  its  solvent  properties 
much  less  efficacious.  Hence  alcohol  can  not  be 
considered  either  as  food  or  as  a  solvent  for  food. 
Not  as  the  latter  certainly,  for  it  refuses  to  act  with 
the  gastric  juice. 

" 'It  is  a  remarkable  fact,'  says  Dr.  Dundas 
Thompson,  '  that  alcohol,  when  added  to  the  digest- 
ive fluid,  produces  a  white  precipitate,  so  that  the 
fluid  is  no  longer  capable  of  digesting  animal  or 
vegetable  matter.'  '  The  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants,' 
say  Drs.  Todd  and  Bowman,  '  retards  digestion  by 
coagulating  the  pepsine,  an  essential  element  of  the 
gastric  juice,  and  thereby  interfering  with  its  action. 
Were  it  not  that  wine  and  spirits  are  rapidly  ab- 
sorbed, the  introduction  of  these  into  the  stomach, 
in  any  quantity,  would  be  a  complete  bar  to  the 
digestion  of  food,  as  the  pepsine  would  be  precipi- 
tated from  the  solution  as  quickly  as  it  was  formed 
by  the  stomach/  Spirit,  in  any  quantity,  as  a  dietary 
adjunct,  is  pernicious  on  account  of  its  antiseptic 
qualities,  which  resist  the  digestion  of  food  by  the 
absorption  of  water  from  its  particles,  in  direct  an- 
tagonism to  chemical  operation." 


30  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

ITS  EFFECT  ON  THE  BLOOD. 

Dr.  Richardson,  in  his  lectures  on  alcohol,  given 
both  in  England  and  America,  speaking  of  the 
action  of  this  substance  on  the  blood  after  passing 
from  the  stomach,  says : 

"  Suppose,  then,  a  certain  measure  of  alcohol  be 
taken  into  the  stomach,  it  will  be  absorbed  there, 
but,  previous  to  absorption,  it  will  have  to  undergo 
a  proper  degree  of  dilution  with  water,  for  there  is 
this  peculiarity  respecting  alcohol  when  it  is  sepa- 
rated by  an  animal  membrane  from  a  watery  fluid 
like  the  blood,  that  it  will  not  pass  through  the 
membrane  until  it  has  become  charged,  to  a  given 
point  of  dilution,  with  water.  It  is  itself,  in  fact,  so 
greedy  for  water,  it  wilt  pick  it  up  from  watery 
textures,  and  deprive  them  of  it  until,  by  its  satura- 
tion, its  power  of  reception  is  exhausted,  after  which 
it  will  diffuse  into  the  current  of  circulating  fluid." 

It  is  this  power  of  absorbing  water  from  every 
texture  with  which  alcoholic  spirits  comes  in  con- 
tact, that  creates  the  burning  thirst  of  those  who 
freely  indulge  in  its  use.  Its  effect,  when  it  reaches 
the  circulation,  is  thus  described  by  Dr.  Richardson : 

"  As  it  passes  through  the  circulation  of  the  lungs 
it  is  exposed  to  the  air,  and  some  little  of  it,  raised 
into  vapor  by  the  natural  heat,  is  thrown  off  in  ex- 
piration. If  the  quantity  of  it  be  large,  this  loss 
may  be  considerable,  and  the  odor  of  the  spirit  may 
be  detected  in  the  expired  breath.  If  the  quantity 
be  small,  the  loss  will  be  comparatively  little,  aa  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3} 

spirit  will  be  held  in  solution  by  the  water  in  the 
blood.  After  it  has  passed  through  the  lungs,  and 
has  been  driven  by  the  left  heart  over  the  arterial 
circuit,  it  passes  into  what  is  called  the  minute 
circulation,  or  the  structural  circulation  of  the 
organism.  The  arteries  here  extend  into  very  small 
vessels,  which  are  called  arterioles,  and  from  these 
infinitely  small  vessels  spring  the  equally  minute 
radicals  or  roots  of  the  veins,  which  are  ultimately 
to  become  the  great  rivers  bearing  the  blood  back 
to  the  heart.  In  its  passage  through  this  minute 
circulation  the  alcohol  finds  its  way  to  every  organ. 
To  this  brain,  to  these  muscles,  to  these  secreting  or 
excreting  organs,  nay,  even  into  this  bony  structure 
itself,  it  moves  with  the  blood.  In  some  of  these 
parts  which  are  not  excreting,  it  remains  for  a  time 
diffused,  and  in  those  parts  where  there  is  a  large 
percentage  of  water,  it  remains  longer  than  in  other 
parts.  From  some  organs  which  have  an  open  tube 
for  conveying  fluids  away,  as  the  liver  and  kidneys, 
it  is  thrown  out  or  eliminated,  and  in  this  way  a 
portion  of  it  is  ultimately  removed  from  the  body. 
The  rest  passing  round  and  round  with  the  circula- 
tion, is  probably  decomposed  and  carried  off  in  new 
forms  of  matter. 

"When  we  know  the  course  which  the  alcohol 
takes  in  its  passage  through  the  body,  from  the 
period  of  its  absorption  to  that  of  its  elimination,  we 
are  the  better  able  to  judge  what  physical  changes 
it  induces  in  the  different  organs  and  structures 


32  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOXSTER;   OR, 

with  which  it  comes  in  contact.  It  first  reaches  the 
blood ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  quantity  of  it  that  enters 
is  insufficient  to  produce  any  material  effect  on  that 
fluid.  If,  however,  the  dose  taken  be  poisonous  or 
semi-poisonous,  then  even  the  blood,  rich  as  it  is  in 
water — and  it  contains  seven  hundred  and  ninety 
parts  in  a  thousand — is  affected.  The  alcohol  is 
diffused  through  this  water,  and  there  it  comes  in 
contact  with  the  other  constituent  parts,  with  the 
fibrine,  that  plastic  substance  which,  when  blood  is 
drawn,  clots  and  coagulates,  and  which  is  present  in 
the  proportion  of  from  two  to  three  parts  in  a  thou- 
sand ;  with  the  albumen  which  exists  in  the  propor- 
tion of  seventy  parts ;  with  the  salts  which  yield 
about  ten  parts ;  with  the  fatty  matters ;  and  lastly, 
with  those  minute,  round  bodies  which  float  in 
myriads  in  the  blood  (which  were  discovered  by  the 
Dutch  philosopher,  Leuwenhock,  as  one  of  the  first 
results  of  microscopical  observation,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  seventeenth  century),  and  which  are  called 
the  blood  globules  or  corpuscles.  These  last-named 
bodies  are,  in  fact,  cells ;  their  discs,  when  natural, 
have  a  smooth  outline,  they  are  depressed  in  the 
centre,  and  they  are  red  in  color ;  the  color  of  the 
blood  being  derived  from  them.  We  have  disco- 
vered in  recent  years  that  there  exist  other  corpus- 
cles or  cells  in  the  blood  in  much  smaller  quantity, 
which  are  called  white  cells,  and  these  different  cells 
float  in  the  blood-stream  within  the  vessels.  The 
red  take  the  centre  of  the  stream;  the  white  lie 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  33 

externally  near  the  sides  of  the  vessels,  moving  less 
quickly.  Our  business  is  mainly  with  the  red  cor- 
puscles. They  perform  the  most  important  func- 
tions in  the  economy ;  they  absorb,  in  great  part, 
the  oxygen  which  we  inhale  in  breathing,  and  carry 
it  to  the  extreme  tissues  of  the  body ;  they  absorb, 
in  great  part,  the  carbonic  acid  gas  which  is  produced 
in  the  combustion  of  the  body  in  the  extreme  tissues, 
and  bring  that  gas  back  to  the  lungs  to  be  exchanged 
for  oxygen  there ;  in  short,  they  are  the  vital  in- 
struments of  the  circulation. 

"  With  all  these  parts  of  the  blood,  with  the  water, 
fibrine,  albumen,  salts,  fatty  matter  and  corpuscles, 
the  alcohol  comes  in  contact  when  it  enters  the 
blood,  and,  if  it  be  in  sufficient  quantity,  it  produces 
disturbing  action.  I  have  watched  this  disturbance 
very  carefully  on  the  blood  corpuscles ;  for,  in  some 
animals  we  can  see  these  floating  along  during  life,  and 
we  can  also  observe  them  from  men  who  are  under  the 
effects  of  alcohol,  by  removing  a  speck  of  blood,  and 
examining  it  with  the  microscope.  The  action  of 
the  alcohol,  when  it  is  observable,  is  varied.  It  may 
cause  the  corpuscles  to  run  too  closely  together,  and 
to  adhere  in  rolls ;  it  may  modify  their  outline, 
making  the  clear-defined,  smooth,  outer  edge  irregu- 
lar or  crenate,  or  even  starlike ;  it  may  change  the 
round  corpuscle  into  the  oval  form,  or,  in  very  ex- 
treme cases,  it  may  produce  what  I  may  call  a 
truncated  form  of  corpuscles,  in  which  the  change 
is  so  great  that  if  we  did  not  trace  it  through  all  its 


34  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTEE;    OR, 

Stages,  we  should  be  puzzled  to  know  whether  the 
object  looked  at  were  indeed  a  blood-cell.  All  these 
changes  are  due  to  the  action  of  the  spirit  upon  the 
water  contained  in  the  corpuscles ;  upon  the  capacity 
of  the  spirit  to  extract  water  from  them.  During 
every  stage  of  modification  of  corpuscles  thus  de- 
scribed, their  function  to  absorb  and  fix  gases  is 
impaired,  and  when  the  aggregation  of  the  cells,  in 
masses,  is  great,  other  difficulties  arise,  for  the  cells, 
united  together,  pass  less  easily  than  they  should 
through  the  minute  vessels  of  the  lungs  and  of  the 
general  circulation,  and  impede  the  current,  by 
which  local  injury  is  produced. 

"A  further  action  upon  the  blood,  instituted  by 
alcohol  in.  excess,  is  upon  the  fibrine  or  the  plastic 
colloidal  matter.  On  this  the  spirit  may  act  in  two 
different  ways,  according  to  the  degree  in  which  it 
affects  the  water  that  holds  the  fibrine  in  solution. 
It  may  fix  the  water  with  the  fibrine,  and  thus 
destroy  the  power  of  coagulation  ;  or  it  may  extract 
the  water  so  determinately  as  to  produce  coagulation." 

ON  THE  MINUTE  CIRCULATION. 

The  doctor  then  goes  on  to  describe  the  minute 
circulation  through  which  the  constructive  material 
in  the  blood  is  distributed  to  every  part  of  the  body. 
"From  this  distribution  of  blood  in  these  minute 
vessels,"  he  says,  "the  structure  of  organs  derive 
their  constituent  parts ;  through  these  vessels  brain 
matter,  muscle,  gland,  membrane,  are  given  out  from 


THE  CURSE  AND   THE  CURE.  35 

the  blood  by  a  refined  process  of  selection  of  material, 
which,  up  to  this  time,  is  only  so  far  understood  as 
to  enable  us  to  say  that  it  exists.  The  minute  and 
intermediate  vessels  are  more  intimately  connected 
than  any  other  part  with  the  construction  and  with 
the  function  of  the  living  matter  of  which  the  body 
is  composed.  Think  you  that  this  mechanism  is 
left  uncontrolled  ?  No ;  the  vessels,  small  as  they 
are,  are  under  distinct  control.  Infinitely  refined 
in  structure,  they  nevertheless  have  the  power  of 
contraction  and  dilatation,  which  power  is  governed 
by  nervous  action  of  a  special  kind." 

Now,  there  are  certain  chemical  agents,  which,  by 
their  action  on  the  nerves,  have  the  power  to  para- 
lyze and  relax  these  minute  blood-vessels,  at  their 
extreme  points.  "The  whole  series  of  nitrates," 
says  Dr.  Richardson,  "possess  this  power;  ether 
possesses  it ;  but  the  great  point  I  wish  to  bring  forth 
is,  that  the  substance  we  are  specially  dealing  with, 
alcohol,  possesses  the  self-same  power.  By  this 
influence  it  produces  all  those  peculiar  effects  which 
in  every-day  life  are  so  frequently  illustrated." 

PAKALYZES  THE  MINUTE  BLOOD-VESSELS. 

It  paralyzes  the  minute  blood-vessels,  and  allows 
them  to  become  dilated  with  the  flowing  blood. 

"  If  you  attend  a  large  dinner  party,  you  will 
observe,  after  the  first  few  courses,  when  the  wine 
is  beginning  to  circulate,  a  progressive  change  in 
some  of  those  about  you  who  have  taken  wine. 


36  GEArPLfXG   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

The  face  begins  to  get  flushed,  the  eye  brightens, 
and  the  murmur  of  conversation  becomes  loud. 
What  is  the  reason  of  that  flushing  of  the  counte- 
nance? It  is  the  same  as  the  flush  from  blushing, 
or  from  the  reaction  of  cold,  or  from  the  nitrite  of 
amyl.  It  is  the  dilatation  of  vessels  following  upon 
the  reduction  of  nervous  control,  which  reduction 
has  been  induced  by  the  alcohol.  In  a  word,  the 
first  stage,  the  stage  of  vascular  excitement  from 
alcohol,  has  been  established. 

HEART  DISTURBANCE. 

"  The  action  of  the  alcohol  extending  so  far  does 
not  stop  there.  With  the  disturbance  of  power  in 
the  extreme  vessels,  more  disturbance  is  set  up  in. 
other  organs,  and  the  first  organ  that  shares  in  it  is 
the  heart.  With  each  beat  of  the  heart  a  certain 
degree  of  resistance  is  offered  by  the  vessels  when 
their  nervous  supply  is  perfect,  and  the  stroke  of 
the  heart  is  moderated  in  respect  both  to  tension 
and  to  time.  But  when  the  vessels  are  rendered 
relaxed,  the  resistance  is  removed,  the  heart  begins 
to  run  quicker,  like  a  watch  from  which  the  pallets 
have  been  removed,  and  the  heart-stroke,  losing 
nothing  in  force,  is  greatly  increased  in  frequency, 
with  a  weakened  recoil  stroke.  It  is  easy  to  account, 
in  this  manner,  for  the  quickened  heart  and  pulse 
which  accompany  the  first  stage  of  deranged  action 
from  alcohol,  and  you  will  be  interested  to  know  to 
what  extent  this  increase  of  vascular  action  proceeds. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  37 

The  information  on  this  subject  is  exceedingly  curi- 
ous and  important." 

:j:  :•-.  :j:  #  :i:  #  #  # 

"  The  stage  of  primary  excitement  of  the  circu- 
lation thus  induced  lasts  for  a  considerable  time,  but 
at  length  the  heart  flags  from  its  overaction,  and  re- 
quires the  stimulus  of  more  spirit  to  carry  it  on  in 
its  work.  Let  us  take  what  we  may  call  a  moderate 
amount  of  alcohol,  say  two  ounces  by  volume,  iii 
form  of  wine,  or  beer,  or  spirits.  What  is  called 
strong  sherry  or  port  may  contain  as  much  as 
twenty-five  per  cent,  by  volume.  Brandy  over  fifty; 
gin,  thirty-eight;  ruin,  forty -eight;  whisky,  forty- 
three  ;  vin  ordeinaire,  eight ;  strong  ale,  fourteen ; 
champagne,  ten  to  eleven ;  it  matters  not  which,  if 
the  quantity  of  alcohol  be  regulated  by  the  amount 
present  in  the  liquor  imbibed.  When  we  reach  the 
two  ounces,  a  distinct  physiological  effect  follows, 
leading  on  to  that  first  stage  of  excitement  with 
which  we  are  now  conversant.  The  reception  of 
the  spirit  arrested  at  this  point,  there  need  be  no 
important  mischief  done  to  the  organism ;  but  if 
the  quantity  imbibed  be  increased,  further  changes 
quickly  occur.  We  have  seen  that  all  the  organs 
of  the  body  are  built  upon  the  vascular  structures, 
and  therefore  it  follows  that  a  prolonged  paralysis 
of  the  minute  circulation  must  of  necessity  lead  to 
disturbance  in  other  organs  than  the  heart. 


38  GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

OTHER  ORGANS  INVOLVED. 

"  By  common  observation,  the  flush  seen  on  the 
cheek  during  the  first  stage  of  alcoholic  excitation, 
is  presumed  to  extend  merely  to  the  parts  actually 
exposed  to  view.  It  cannot,  however,  be  too  forci- 
bly impressed  that  the  condition  is  universal  in  the 
body.  If  the  lungs  could  be  seen,  they,  too,  would 
be  found  with  their  vessels  injected ;  if  the  brain  and 
spinal  cord  could  be  laid  open  to  view,  they  would 
be  discovered  in  the  same  condition ;  if  the  stomach, 
the  liver,  the  spleen,  the  kidneys  or  any  other  vas- 
cular organs  or  parts  could  be  exposed,  the  vascular 
engorgement  would  be  equally  manifest.  In  the 
lower  animals,  I  have  been  able  to  witness  this  ex- 
treme vascular  condition  in  the  lungs,  and  there  are 
here  presented  to  you  two  drawings  from  nature, 
showing,  one  the  lungs  in  a  natural  state  of  an 
animal  killed  by  a  sudden  blow,  the  other  the  lungs 
of  an  animal  killed  equally  suddenly,  but  at  a  time 
when  it  was  under  the  influence  of  alcohol.  You 
will  see,  as  if  you  were  looking  at  the  structures 
themselves,  how  different  they  are  in  respect  to  the 
blood  which  they  contained,  how  intensely  charged 
with  blood  is  the  lung  in  which  the  vessels  had 
been  paralyzed  by  the  alcoholic  soirit. 

EFFECT  ON  THE  BRAIN. 

"  I  once  had  the  unusual,  though  unhappy,  op- 
portunity of  observing  the  same  phenomenon  in  the 
brain  structure  of  a  man,  who,  in  a  paroxysm  of 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURB.  39 

alcoholic  excitement,  decapitated  himself  under  the 
wheel  of  a  railway  carriage,  and  whose  brain  was 
instantaneously  evolved  from  the  skull  by  the  crash. 
The  brain  itself,  entire,  was  before  me  within  three 
minutes  after  the  death.  It  exhaled  the  odor  of 
spirit  most  distinctly,  and  its  membranes  and 
minute  structures  were  vascular  in  the  extreme.  It 
looked  as  if  it  had  been  recently  injected  with  ver- 
milion. The  white  matter  of  the  cerebrum,  studded 
with  red  points,  could  scarcely  be  distinguished, 
when  it  was  incised,  by  its  natural  whiteness ;  and 
the  pia-mater,  or  internal  vascular  membrane  cov- 
ering the  brain,  resembled  a  delicate  web  of  coagu- 
lated red  blood,  so  tensely  were  its  fine  y/essels  en- 
gorged. 

"  I  should  add  that  this  condition  extended  through 
both  the  larger  and  the  smaller  brain,  the  cerebrum 
and  cerebellum,  but  was  not  so  marked  in  the  me- 
dulla or  commencing  portion  of  the  spinal  cord. 

THE  SPINAL  CORD  AND  NERVES. 

"The  action  of  alcohol  continued  beyond  the 
first  stage,  the  function  of  the  spinal  cord  is  influ- 
enced. Through  this  part  of  the  nervous  system 
we  are  accustomed,  in  health,  to  perform  automatic 
acts  of  a  mechanical  kind,  which  proceed  systemati- 
cally even  when  we  are  thinking  or  speaking  on 
other  subjects.  Thus  a  skilled  workman  will  con- 
tinue his  mechanical  work  perfectly,  while  his  mind 
is  bent  on  some  other  subject ;  and  thus  we  all  per- 


40  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOSSTFR ;    OR, 

form  various  acts  in  a  purely  automatic  way,  without 
calling  in  the  aid  of  the  higher  centres,  except 
something  more  than  ordinary  occurs  to  demand 
their  service,  upon  which  we  think  before  we  per- 
form. Under  alcohol,  as  the  spinal  centres  become 
influenced,  these  pure  automatic  acts  cease  to  be 
correctly  carried  on.  That  the  hand  may  reach  any 
object,  or  the  foot  be  correctly  planted,  the  higher 
intellectual  centre  must  be  invoked  to  make  the 
proceeding  secure.  There  follows  quickly  upon 
this  a  deficient  power  of  co-ordination  of  muscular 
movement.  The  nervous  control  of  certain  of  the 
muscles  is  lost,  and  the  nervous  stimulus  is  more  or 
less  enfeebled.  The  muscles  of  the  lower  lip  in  the 
human  subject  usually  fail  first  of  all,  then  the 
muscles  of  the  lower  limbs,  and  it  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  the  extensor  muscles  give  way  earlier 
than  the  flexors.  The  muscles  themselves,  by  this 
time,  are  also  failing  in  power ;  they  respond  more 
feebly  than  is  natural  to  the  nervous  stimulus; 
they,  too,  are  coming  under  the  depressing  influ- 
ence of  the  paralyzing  agent,  their  structure  is 
temporarily  deranged,  and  their  contractile  power 
reduced. 

"  This  modification  of  the  animal  functions  under 
alcohol,  marks  the  second  degree  of  its  action.  In 
young  subjects,  there  is  now,  usually,  vomiting  with 
faintness,  followed  by  gradual  relief  from  the  burden 
of  the  poison. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  43 

EFFECT  ON  THE  BRAIN  CENTRES. 

"  The  alcoholic  spirit  carried  yet  a  further  degree, 
the  cerebral  or  brain  centres  become  influenced  ; 
they  are  reduced  in  power,  and  the  controlling 
influences  of  will  and  of  judgment  are  lost.  As 
these  centres  are  unbalanced  and  thrown  into  chaos, 
the  rational  part  of  the  nature  of  the  man  gives 
way  before  the  emotional,  passional  or  organic  part. 
The  reason  is  now  off  duty,  or  is  fooling  with  duty, 
and  all  the  mere  animal  instincts  and  sentiments 
are  laid  atrociously  bare.  The  coward  shows  up 
more  craven,  the  braggart  more  boastful,  the  cruel 
more  merciless,  the  untruthful  more  false,  the  carnal 
more  degraded.  '  In  vino  veritas '  expresses,  even, 
indeed,  to  physiological  accuracy,  the  true  condition. 
The  reason,  the  emotions,  the  instincts,  are  all  in  a 
state  of  carnival,  and  in  chaotic  feebleness. 

"  Finally,  the  action  of  the  alcohol  still  extending, 
the  superior  brain  centres  are  overpowered ;  the 
senses  are  beclouded,  the  voluntary  muscular  pros- 
tration is  perfected,  sensibility  is  lost,  and  the  body 
lies  a  mere  log,  dead  by  all  but  one-fourth,  on  which 
alone  its  life  hangs.  The  heart  still  remains  true  to 
its  duty,  and  while  it  just  lives  it  feeds  the  breathing 
power.  And  so  the  circulation  and  the  respiration, 
in  the  otherwise  inert  mass,  keeps  the  mass  within 
the  bare  domain  of  life  until  the  poison  begins  to 
pass  away  and  the  nervous  centres  to  revive  again. 
It  is  happy  for  the  inebriate  that,  as  a  rule,  the 
brain  fails  so  long  before  the  heart  that  he  has 


44  GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

neither  the  power  nor  the  sense  to  continue  his 
process  of  destruction  up  to  the  act  of  death  of  his 
circulation.  Therefore  he  lives  to  die  another  day. 

*  #  *  &  :•:  *  #  * 

"  Such  is  an  outline  of  the  primary  action  of  alco- 
hol on  those  who  may  he  said  to  be  unaccustomed 
to  it,  or  who  have  not  yet  fallen  into  a  fixed  habit 
of  taking  it.  For  a  long  time  the  organism  will 
bear  these  perversions  of  its  functions  without  ap- 
parent injury,  but  if  the  experiment  be  repeated  too 
often  and  too  long,  if  it  be  continued  after  the  term 
of  life  when  the  body  is  fully  developed,  when  the 
elasticity  of  the  membranes  and  of  the  blood-vessels 
is  lessened,  and  when  the  tone  of  the  muscular  fibre 
is  reduced,  then  organic  series  of  structural  changes, 
so  characteristic  of  the  persistent  effects  of  spirit, 
become  prominent  and  permanent.  Then  the  ex- 
ternal surface  becomes  darkened  and  congested,  its 
vessels,  in  parts,  visibly  large;  the  skin  becomes 
blotched,  the  proverbial  red  nose  is  defined,  and 
those  other  striking  vascular  changes  which  disfigure 
many  who  may  probably  be  called  moderate  alco- 
holics, are  developed.  These  changes,  belonging, 
as  they  do,  to  external  surfaces,  come  under  direct 
observation ;  they  are  accompanied  with  certain 
other  changes  in  the  internal  organs,  which  we  shall 
show  to  be  more  destructive  still."  » 


CHAPTER  III. 

IT  CURSES  THE  BODY.— CONTINUED. 

WE  have  quoted  thus  freely  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  in  order  that  the  intelligent  and 
thoughtful  reader,  who  is  really  seeking  for  the 
truth  in  regard  to  the  physical  action  of  alcohol, 
may  be  able  to  gain  clear  impressions  on  the  sub- 
ject. The  specific  changes  wrought  by  this  sub- 
stance on  the  internal  organs  are  of  a  most  serious 
character,  and  should  be  well  understood  by  all 
who  indulge  habitually  in  its  use. 

EFFECT  ON  THE  MEMBRANES. 

The  parts  which  first  suffer  from  alcohol  are 
those  expansions  of  the  body  which  the  anatomists 
call  the  membranes.  "  The  skin  is  a  membranous 
envelope.  Through  the  whole  of  the  alimentary 
surface,  from  the  lips  downward,  and  through  the 
bronchial  passages  to  their  minutest  ramifications, 
extends  the  mucous  membrane.  The  lungs,  the 
heart,  the  liver,  the  kidneys  are  folded  in  delicate 
membranes,  which  can  be  stripped  easily  from  these 
parts.  If  you  take  a  portion  of  bone,  you  will  find 
it  easy  to  strip  off  from  it  a  membranous  sheath  or 
covering ;  if  you.  examine  a  joint,  you  will  find  both 

the  head  and  the  socket  lined  with  membranes.    The 

45 


40  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOXSTEE ;    OR, 

whole  of  the  intestines  are  enveloped  in  a  fine 
brane  called  peritoneum.  All  the  muscles  are 
enveloped  in  membranes,  and  the  fasciculi,  or  bun- 
dies  and  fibres  of  muscles,  have  their  membranous 
sheathing.  The  brain  and  spinal  cord  are  enveloped 
in  three  membranes;  one  nearest  to  themselves,  a 
pure  vascular  structure,  a  net-work  of  blood-vessels  ; 
another,  a  thin  serous  structure ;  a  third,  a  strong 
fibrous  structure.  The  eyeball  is  a  structure  of 
colloidal  humors  and  membranes,  and  of  nothing 
else.  To  complete  the  description,  the  minute 
structures  of  the  vital  organs  are  enrolled  in  mem- 
branous matter." 

These  membranes  are  the  filters  of  the  body. 
"  In  their  absence  there  could  be  no  building  of 
structure,  no  solidification  of  tissue,  nor  organic 
mechanism.  Passive  themselves,  they,  nevertheless, 
separate  all  structures  into  their  respective  positions 
and  adaptations." 

MEMBRANOUS  DETERIORATIONS. 

In  order  to  make  perfectly  clear  to  the  reader's 
mind  the  action  and  use  of  these  membranous  ex- 
pansions, and  the  way  in  which  alcohol  deteriorates 
them,  and  obstructs  their  work,  we  quote  again  from 
Dr.  Richardson  : 

"  The  animal  receives  from  the  vegetable  world 
and  from  the  earth  the  food  and  drink  it  requires 
for  its  sustenance  and  motion.  It  receives  colloidal 
food  for  its  muscles :  combustible  food  for  its  motion; 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  47 

water  for  the  solution  of  its  various  parts ;  salt  for 
constructive  and  other  physical  purposes.  These 
have  all  to  be  arranged  in  the  body ;  and  they  are 
arranged  by  means  of  the  membranous  envelopes. 
Through  these  membranes  nothing  can  pass  that 
is  not,  for  the  time,  in  a  state  of  aqueous  solution, 
like  water  or  soluble  salts.  Water  passes  freely 
through  them,  salts  pass  freely  through  them,  but 
the  constructive  matter  of  the  active  parts  that  is 
colloidal  does  not  pass ;  it  is  retained  in  them  until 
it  is  chemically  decomposed  into  the  soluble  type  of 
matter.  When  we  take  for  our  food  a  portion  of 
animal  flesh,  it  is  first  resolved,  in  digestion,  into  a 
soluble  fluid  before  it  can  be  absorbed  ;  in  the  blood 
it  is  resolved  into  the  fluid  colloidal  condition ;  in 
the  solids  it  is  laid  down  within  the  membranes  into 
new  structure,  and  when  it  has  played  its  part,  it  is 
digested  again,  if  I  may  so  say,  into  a  crystalloidal 
soluble  substance,  ready  to  be  carried  away  and 
replaced  by  addition  of  new  matter,  then  it  is  dia- 
lysed  or  passed  through  the  membranes  into  the 
blood,  and  is  disposed  of  in  the  excretions. 

"  See,  then,  what  an  all-important  part  these 
membranous  structures  play  in  the  animal  life. 
Upon  their  integrity  all  the  silent  work  of  the 
building  up  of  the  body  depends.  If  these  mem- 
branes are  rendered  too  porous,  and  let  out  the  col- 
loidal fluids  of  the  blood — the  albumen,  for  example 
— the  body  so  circumstanced,  dies;  dies  as  if  it 
were  slowly  bled  to  death.  If,  on  the  contrary,, 


48  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOSSTER;    OR, 

they  become  condensed  or  thickened,  or  loaded 
with  foreign  material,  then  they  fail  to  allow  the 
natural  fluids  to  pass  through  them.  They  fail  to 
dialyse,  and  the  result  is,  either  an  accumulation  of 
the  fluid  in  a  closed  cavity,  or  contraction  of  the 
substance  inclosed  within  the  membrane,  or  dryness 
of  membrane  in  surfaces  that  ought  to  be  freely 
lubricated  and  kept  apart.  In  old  age  we  see  the 
effects  of  modification  of  membrane  naturally  in- 
duced; we  see  the  fixed  joint,  the  shrunken  and 
feeble  muscle,  the  dimmed  eye,  the  deaf  ear,  the 
enfeebled  nervous  function. 

"  It  may  possibly  seem,  at  first  sight,  that  I  am 
leading  immediately  away  from  the  subject  of  the 
secondary  action  of  alcohol.  It  is  not  so.  I  am 
leading  directly  to  it.  Upon  all  these  membranous 
structures  alcohol  exerts  a  direct  perversion  of  ac- 
tion. It  produces  in  them  a  thickening,  a  shrink- 
ing and  an  inactivity  that  reduces  their  functional 
power.  That  they  may  work  rapidly  and  equally, 
they  require  to  be  at  all  times  charged  with  water 
to  saturation.  If,  into  contact  with  them,  any  agent 
is  brought  that  deprives  them  of  water,  then  is  their 
vrork  interfered  with ;  they  cease  to  separate  the 
saline  constituents  properly ;  and,  if  the  evil  that  is 
thus  started,  be  allowed  to  continue,  they  contract 
upon  their  contained  matter  in  whatever  organ  it 
may  be  situated,  and  condense  it. 

"  In  brief,  under  the  prolonged  influence  of  alcohol 
those  changes  which  take  place  from  it  in  the  blood 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  49 

corpuscles,  and  which  have  already  been  described, 
extend  to  the  other  organic  parts,  involving  them  in 
structural  deteriorations,  which  are  always  danger- 
ous, and  are  often  ultimately  fatal." 

ACTION  OF  ALCOHOL  ON  THE  STOMACH. 

Passing  from  the  effect  of  alcohol  upon  the  mem- 
branes, we  come  to  its  action  on  the  stomach.  That 
it  impairs,  instead  of  assisting  digestion,  has  already 
been  shown  in  the  extract  from  Dr.  Monroe,  given 
near  the  commencement  of  the  preceding  chapter.  A 
large  amount  of  medical  testimony  could  be  quoted  in 
corroboration,  but  enough  has  been  educed.  We  shall 
only  quote  Dr.  Richardson  on  "Alcoholic  Dyspepsia:" 

"The  stomach,  unable  to  produce,  in  proper  quan- 
tity, the  natural  digestive  fluid,  and  also  unable  to 
absorb  the  food  which  it  may  imperfectly  digest,  is 
in  constant  anxiety  and  irritation.  It  is  oppressed 
with  the  sense  of  nausea ;  it  is  oppressed  with  the 
sense  of  emptiness  and  prostration ;  it  is  oppressed 
with  a  sense  of  distention ;  it  is  oppressed  with  a 
loathing  for  food,  and  it  is  teased  with  a  craving  for 
more  drink.  Thus  there  is  engendered  a  permanent 
disorder  which,  for  politeness'  sake,  is  called  dys- 
pepsia, and  for  which  different  remedies  are  often 
sought  but  never  found.  Antibilious  pills — what- 
ever they  may  mean — Seidlitz  powders,  effervescing 
waters,  and  all  that  pharmacopoeia  of  aids  to  further 
indigestion,  in  which  the  afflicted  who  nurse  their 
own  diseases  so  liberally  and  innocently  indulge, 


50  GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER ;    OR, 

are  tried  in  vain.  I  do  not  strain  a  syllable  when 
I  state  that  the  worst  forms  of  confirmed  indigestion 
originate  in  the  practice  that  is  here  explained.  By 
this  practice  all  the  functions  are  vitiated,  the  skin 
at  one  moment  is  flushed  and  perspiring,  and  at  the 
next  moment  it  is  pale,  cold  and  clammy,  while  every 
other  secreting  structure  is  equally  disarranged." 

TIC-DOULOUREUX  AND  SCIATICA. 

Nervous  derangements  follow  as  a  matter  of  course, 
for  the  delicate  membranes  which  envelope  and  im- 
mediately surround  the  nervous  cords,  are  affected 
by  the  alcohol  more  readily  than  the  coarser  mem- 
branous textures  of  other  parts  of  the  body,  and 
give  rise  to  a  series  of  troublesome  conditions,  which 
are  too  often  attributed  to  other  than  the  true  causes. 
Some  of  these  are  thus  described :  "  The  perverted 
condition  of  the  membranous  covering  of  the  nerves 
gives  rise  to  pressure  within  the  sheath  of  the  nerve, 
and  to  pain  as  a  consequence.  To  the  pain  thus 
excited  the  term,  neuralgia  is  commonly  applied,  or 
"  tic ;"  or,  if  the  large  nerve  running  down  the  thigh 
be  the  seat  of  the  pain,  '  sciatica/  Sometimes  this 
pain  is  developed  as  a  toothache.  It  is  pain  com- 
mencing, in  nearly  every  instance,  at  some  point 
where  a  nerve  is  inclosed  in  a  bony  cavity,  or  where 
pressure  is  easily  excited,  as  at  the  lower  jawbone 
near  the  centre  of  the  chin,  or  at  the  opening  in 
front  of  the  lower  part  of  the  ear,  or  at  the  opening 
over  the  eyeball  in  the  frontal  bone." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  51 

DEGENERATION  OF  THE  LIVER. 

The  organic  deteriorations  which  follow  the  long- 
continued  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  are  often  of  a 
serious  and  fatal  character.  The  same  author  says : 
"  The  organ  of  the  body,  that,  perhaps,  the  most 
frequently  undergoes  structural  changes  from  alco- 
hol, is  the  liver.  The  capacity  of  this  organ. for 
holding  active  substances  in  its  cellular  parts,  is  one 
of  its  marked  physiological  distinctions.  In  in- 
stances of  poisoning  by  arsenic,  antimony,  strych- 
nine and  other  poisonous  compounds,  we  turn  to 
the  liver,  in  conducting  our  analyses,  as  if  it  were 
the  central  depot  of  the  foreign  matter.  It  is, 
practically,  the  same  in  respect  to  alcohol.  The 
liver  of  the  confirmed  alcoholic  is,  probably,  never 
free  from  the  influence  of  the  poison  ;  it  is  too  often 
saturated  with  it.  The  effect  of  the  alcohol  upon 
the  liver  is  upon  the  minute  membranous  or  capsular 
structure  of  the  organ,  upon  which  it  acts  to  prevent 
the  proper  dialysis  and  free  secretion.  The  organ, 
at  first,  becomes  large  from  the  distention  of  its 
vessels,  the  surcharge  of  fluid  matter  and  the  thick- 
ening of  tissue.  After  a  time,  there  follows  con- 
traction of  membrane,  and  slow  shrinking  of  the 
whole  mass  of  the  organ  in  its  cellular  parts.  Then 
the  shrunken,  hardened,  roughened  mass  is  said  to 
be  '  hob-nailed,'  a  common,  but  expressive  term. 
By  the  time  this  change  occurs,  the  body  of  him  in 
whom  it  is  developed  is  usually  dropsical  in  its 
lower  parts,  owing  to  the  obstruction  offered  to  the 


i)'2  GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

returning  blood  by  the  veins,  and  his  fate  is  sealed. 
*  *  *  Again,  under  an  increase  of  fatty  sub- 
stance in  the  body,  the  structure  of  the  liver  may 
be  charged  with  fatty  cells,  and  undergo  Avhat  is 
technically  designated  fatty  degeneration." 

HOW  THE  KIDNEYS  SUFFER. 

"The  kidneys,  also,  suffer  deterioration.  Their 
minute  structures  undergo  fatty  modification  ;  their 
vessels  lose  their  due  elasticity  of  power  of  contrac- 
tion ;  or  their  membranes  permit  to  pass  through 
them  the  albumen  from  the  blood.  This  last  con- 
dition reached,  the  body  loses  power  as  if  it  were 
being  gradually  drained  even  of  its  blood. 

CONGESTION  OF  THE  LUNGS. 

. 

'The  vessels  of  the  lungs  are  easily  relaxed  by 
alcohol ;  and  as  they,  of  all  parts,  are  most  exposed 
to  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold,  they  are  readily 
congested  when,  paralyzed  by  the  spirit,  they  are 
subjected  to  the  effects  of  a  sudden  fall  of  atmos- 
pheric temperature.  Thus,  the  suddenly  fatal  con- 
gestions of  lungs  which  so  easily  befall  the  confirmed 
alcoholic  during  the  severe  winter  seasons." 

ORGANIC  DETERIORATIONS  OF  THE  HEART. 

The  heart  is  one  of  the  greatest  sufferers  from 
alcohol.  Quoting  again  from  Dr.  Richardson  : 

"  The  membranous  structures  which  envelope  and 
line  the  organ  are  changed  in  quality,  are  thickened, 
rendered  cartilaginous-  and  even  calcareous  or  bony. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  53 

Then  the  valves,  which  are  made  up  of  folds  of 
membrane,  lose  their  suppleness,  and  what  is  called 
valvular  disease  is  permanently  established.  The 
coats  of  the  great  blood-vessel  leading  from  the 
heart,  the  aorto,  share,  not  unfrequently,  in  the 
same  changes  of  structure,  so  that .  the  vessel  loses 
its  elasticity  and  its  power  to  feed  the  heart  by  the 
recoil  from  its  distention,  after  the  heart,  by  its 
stroke,  has  filled  it  with  blood. 

"Again,  the  muscular  structure  of  the  heart  fails, 
owing  to  degenerative  changes  in  its  tissue.  The 
elements  of  the  muscular  fibre  are  replaced  by  fatty 
cells ;  or,  if  not  so  replaced,  are  themselves  trans- 
ferred into  a  modified  muscular  texture  in  which 
the  power  of  contraction  is  greatly  reduced. 

"  Those  who  suffer  from  these  organic  deteriora- 
tions of  the  central  and  governing  organ  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood  learn  the  fact  so  insidiously, 
it  hardly  breaks  upon  them  until  the  mischief  is  far 
advanced.  They  are,  for  years,  conscious  of  a  cen- 
tral failure  of  power  from  slight  causes,  such  as 
overexertion,  trouble,  broken  rest,  or  too  long 
abstinence  from  food.  They  feel  what  they  call  a 
'sinking/  but  they  know  that  wine  or  some  other 
stimulant  will  at  once  relieve  the  sensation.  Thus 
they  seek  to  relieve  it  until  at  last  they  discover  that 
the  remedy  fails.  The  jaded,  overworked,  faithful 
heart  will  bear  no  more ;  it  has  run  its  course,  and, 
the  governor  of  the  blood-streams  broken,  the  cur- 
vent  either  overflows  into  the  tissues,  gradually 


54  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

damming  up  the  courses,  or  under  some  slight  shock 
or  excess  of  motion,  ceases  wholly  at  the  centre." 

EPILEPSY  AND  PARALYSIS. 

Lastly,  the  brain  and  spinal  cord,  and  all  the 
nervous  matter,  become,  under  the  influence  of 
alcohol,  subject  alike  to  organic  deterioration  "  The 
membranes  enveloping  the  nervous  substance  un- 
dergo thickening ;  the  blood-vessels  are  subjected 
to  change  of  structure,  by  which  their  resistance 
and  resiliency  is  impaired;  and  the  true  nervous 
matter  is  sometimes  modified,  by  softening  or 
shrinking  of  its  texture,  by  degeneration  of  its 
cellular  structure  or  by  interposition  of  fatty  par- 
ticles. These  deteriorations  of  cerebral  and  spinal 
matter  give  rise  to  a  series  of  derangements,  which 
show  themselves  in  the  worst  forms  of  nervous  dis- 
eases— epilepsy;  paralysis,  local  or  general;  insanity." 

Vie  have  quoted  thus  largely  from  Dr.  Richard- 
son's valuable  lectures,  in  order  that  our  readers 
may  have  an  intelligent  comprehension  of  this  most 
important  subject.  It  is  because  the  great  mass  of 
the  people  are  ignorant  of  the  real  character  of  the 
effects  produced  on  the  body  by  alcohol  that  so 
many  indulge  in  its  use,  and  lay  the  foundation  for 
troublesome,  and  often  painful  and  fatal  diseases  in 
their  later  years. 

In  corroboration  of  Dr.  Richardson's  testimony 
against  alcohol,  we  will,  in  closing  this  chapter,  make 
u  few  quotations  from  other  medical  authorities. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £5 

FARTHER  MEDICAL  TESTIMONY. 

Dr.  Ezra  M.  Hunt  says :  "  The  capacity  of  the 
alcohols  for  impairment  of  functions  and  the  initia- 
tion and  promotion  of  organic  lesions  in  vital  parts, 
is  unsurpassed  by  any  record  in  the  whole  range  of 
medicine.  The  facts  as  to  this  are  so  indisputable, 
and  so  far  granted  by  the  profession,  as  to  be  no 
longer  debatable.  Changes  in  stomach  and  liver, 
in  kidneys  and  lungs,  in  the  blood-vessels  to  the 
minutest  capillary,  and  in  the  blood  to  the  smallest 
red  and  white  blood  disc  disturbances  of  secretion, 
fibroid  and  fatty  degenerations  in  almost  every 
organ,  impairment  of  muscular  power,  impressions 
so  profound  on  both  nervous  systems  as  to  be  often 
toxic — these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  oft  mani- 
fested results.  And  these  are  not  confined  to  those 
called  intemperate." 

Professor  Youmans  says :  "  It  is  evident  that,  so 
far  from  being  the  conservator  of  health,  alcohol  is 
an  active  and  powerful  cause  of  disease,  interfering, 
as  it  does,  with  the  respiration,  the  circulation  and 
the  nutrition ;  now,  is  any  other  result  possible  ?" 

Dr.  F.  R.  Lees  says :  "  That  alcohol  should  con- 
tribute to  the  fattening  process  under  certain  condi- 
tions, and  produce  in  drinkers  fatty  degeneration  of 
the  blood,  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course,  since,  on 
the  one  hand,  we  have  an  agent  that  retains  waste 
matter  by  lowering  the  nutritive  and  excretory 
functions,  and  on  the  other,  a  direct  poisoner  of  the 
vesicles  of  the  vital  stream." 


56  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

Dr.  Henry  Monroe  says :  "  There  is  no  kinu  oi 
tissue,  whether  healthy  or  morbid,  that  may  not 
undergo  fatty  degeneration  ;  and  there  is  no  organic 
disease  so  troublesome  to  the  medical  man,  or  so 
difficult  of  cure.  If,  by  the  aid  of  the  miscroscope, 
we  examine  a  very  fine  section  of  muscle  taken  from 
a  person  in  good  health,  we  find  the  muscles  firm, 
elastic  and  of  a  bright  red  color,  made  up  of  parallel 
fibres,  with  beautiful  crossings  or  striae ;  but,  if  we 
similarly  examine  the  muscle  of  a  man  who  leads 
an  idle,  sedentary  life,  and  indulges  in  intoxicating 
drinks,  we  detect,  at  once,  a  pale,  flabby,  inelastic, 
oily  appearance.  Alcoholic  narcotization  appears 
to  produce  this  peculiar  conditions  of  the  tissues 
more  than  any  other  agent  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted. '  Three-quarters  of  the  chronic  illness 
which  the  medical  man  has  to  treat/  says  Dr. 
Chambers,  'are  occasioned  by  this  disease.'  The 
eminent  French  analytical  chemist,  Lecanu,  found 
as  much  as  one  hundred  and  seventeen  parts  of  fat 
in  one  thousand  parts  of  a  drunkard's  blood,  the 
highest  estimate  of  the  quantity  in  health  being 
eight  and  one-quarter  parts,  while  the  ordinary 
quantity  is  not  more  than  two  or  three  parts,  so  that 
the  blood  of  the  drunkard  contains  forty  times  in 
excess  of  the  ordinary  quantity." 

Dr.  Hammond,  who  has  written,  in  partial  defense 
of  alcohol  as  containing  a  food  power,  says :  "  When 
I  say  that  it,  of  all  other  causes,  is  most  prolific  in 
exciting  derangements  of  the  brain,  the  spinal  cord 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  57 

and  the  nerves,  I  make  a  statement  which  my  own 
experience  shows  to  be  correct." 

Another  eminent  physician  says  of  alcohol :  "  It 
substitutes  suppuration  for  growth.  *  *  It  helps 
time  to  produce  the  effects  of  age ;  and,  in  a  word, 
is  the  genius  of  degeneration." 

Dr.  Monroe,  from  whom  we  have  already  quoted, 
says  :  "Alcohol,  taken  in  small  quantities,  or  largely 
diluted,  as  in  the  form  of  beer,  causes  the  stomach 
gradually  to  lose  its  tone,  and  makes  it  dependent 
upon  artificial  stimulus.  Atony,  or  want  of  tone  of 
the  stomach,  gradually  supervenes,  and  incurable  dis- 
order of  health  results.  *  *  *  Should  a  dose  of  alco- 
holic drink  be  taken  daily,  the  heart  will  very  often 
become  hypertrophied,  or  enlarged  throughout. 
Indeed,  it  is  painful  to  witness  how  many  persons 
are  actually  laboring  under  disease  of  the  heart, 
owing  chiefly  to  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors." 

Dr.  T.  K.  Chambers,  physician  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  says :  "Alcohol  is  really  the  most  ungenerous 
diet  there  is.  It  impoverishes  the  blood,  and  there 
is  no  surer  road  to  that  degeneration  of  muscular 
fibre  so  much  to  be  feared ;  and  in  heart  disease  it 
is  more  especially  hurtful,  by  quickening  the  beat, 
causing  capillary  congestion  and  irregular  circula- 
tion, and  thus  mechanically  inducing  dilatation/ 

Sir  Henry  Thompson,  a  distinguished  surgeon, 
says:  "  Don't  take  your  daily  wine  under  any  pretext 
of  its  doing  you  good.  Take  it  frankly  as  a  luxury — 
one  which  must  be  paid  for,  by  some  persons  very 


58  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER,-'  OR, 

lightly,  by  some  at  a  high  price,  but  always  to  be 
paid  for.  And,  mostly,  some  loss  of  health,  or  of 
mental  power,  or  of  calmness  of  temper,  or  of 
judgment,  is  the  price." 

Dr.  Charles  Jewett  says :  "  The  late  Prof.  Parks, 
of  England,  in  his  great  work  on  Hygiene,  has 
effectually  disposed  of  the  notion,  long  and  very 
generally  entertained,  that  alcohol  is  a  valuable 
prophylactic  where  a  bad  climate,  bad  water  and 
other  conditions  unfavorable  to  health  exist;  and 
an  unfortunate  experiment  with  the  article,  in  the 
Union  army,  on  the  banks  of  the  Chickahominy,  in 
the  year  1863,  proved  conclusively  that,  instead  of 
guarding  the  human  constitution  against  the  influ- 
ence of  agencies  hostile  to  health,  its  use  gives  to 
them  additional  force.  The  medical  history  of  the 
British  army  in  India  teaches  the  same  lesson." 

But  why  present  farther  testimony  ?  Is  not  the 
evidence  complete?  To  the  man  who  values  good 
health ;  who  would  not  lay  the  foundation  for  dis- 
ease and  suffering  in  his  later  years,  we  need  not 
offer  a  single  additional  argument  in  favor  of  entire 
abstinence  from  alcoholic  drinks.  He  will  eschew 
them  as  poisons. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IT  CURSES  THE  SOUL. 

THE  physical  disasters  that  follow  the  continued 
use  of  intoxicating  beverages  are  sad  enough, 
and  terrible  enough  ;  but  the  surely  attendant  men- 
tal, moral  and  spiritual  disasters  are  sadder  and  more 
terrible  still.  If  you  disturb  the  healthy  condition  of 
the  brain,  which  is  the  physical  organ  through  which 
the  mind  acts,  you  disturb  the  mind.  It  will  not 
have  the  same  clearness  of  perception  as  before ;  nor 
have  the  same  rational  control  over  the  impulses  and 
passions. 

In  what  manner  alcohol  deteriorates  the  body 
and  brain  has  been  shown  in  the  two  preceding 
chapters.  In  this  one  we  purpose  showing  how  the 
curse  goes  deeper  than  the  body  and  brain,  and 
involves  the  whole  man — morally  and  spiritually, 
as  well  as  physically. 

HEAVENLY  ORDER  IN  THE  BODY. 

In  order  to  understand  a  subject  clearly,  certain 
general  laws,  or  principles,  must  be  seen  and  ad- 
mitted. And  here  we  assume,  as  a  general  truth, 
that  health  in  the  human  body  is  normal  heavenly 
order  on  the  physical  plane  of  life,  and  that  any 
59 


60  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

disturbance  of  that  order  exposes  the  man  to  de- 
structive influences,  which  are  evil  and  infernal  in 
their  character  Above  the  natural  and  physical 
plane,  and  resting  upon  it,  while  man  lives  in  this 
world,  is  the  mental  and  spiritual  plane,  or  degree 
of  life.  This  degree  is  in  heavenly  order  when  the 
reason  is  clear,  and  the  appetites  and  passions  under 
its  wise  control.  But,  if,  through  any  cause,  this 
fine  equipoise  is  disturbed,  or  lost,  then  a  way  is 
opened  for  the  influx  of  more  subtle  evil  influences 
than  such  as  invade  the  body,  because  they  have 
power  to  act  upon  the  reason  and  the  passions,  ob- 
scuring the  one  and  inflaming  the  others. 

MENTAL  DISTURBANCES. 

We  know  how  surely  the  loss  of  bodily  health 
results  in  mental  disturbance.  If  the  seat  of  disease 
be  remote  from  the  brain,  the  disturbance  is  usually 
slight ;  but  it  increases  as  the  trouble  comes  nearer 
and  nearer  to  that  organ,  and  shows  itself  in  multi- 
form ways  according  to  character,  temperament  or 
inherited  disposition ;  but  almost  always  in  a  pre- 
dominance of  what  is  evil  instead  of  good.  There 
will  be  fretfulness,  or  ill-nature,  or  selfish  exactions, 
or  mental  obscurity,  or  unreasoning  demands,  or,  it 
may  be,  vicious  and  cruel  propensities,  where,  when 
the  brain  was  undisturbed  by  disease,  reason  held 
rule  with  patience  and  loving  kindness.  If  the 
disease  which  has  attacked  the  brain  goes  on  in- 
creasing, the  mental  disease  which  follows  as  a  con- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  Cl 

sequence  of  organic  disturbance  or  deterioration, 
will  have  increased  also,  until  insanity  may  be  estab- 
lished in  some  one  or  more  of  its  many  sad  and 
varied  forms. 

INSANITY. 

It  is,  therefore,  a  very  serious  thing  for  a  man  to 
take  into  his  body  any  substance  which,  on  reaching 
that  wonderfully  delicate  organ — the  brain,  sets  up 
therein  a  diseased  action  ;  for,  diseased  mental  action 
is  sure  to  follow,  and  there  is  only  one  true  name 
for  mental  disease,  and  that  is  insanity.  A  fever  is 
a  fever,  whether  it  be  light  or  intensely  burning ; 
and  so  any  disturbance  of  the  mind's  rational  equi- 
poise is  insanity,  whether  it  be  in  the  simplest  form 
of  temporary  obscurity,  or  in  the  midnight  of  a 
totally  darkened  intellect. 

We  are  not  writing  in  the  interest  of  any  special 
theory,  nor  in  the  spirit  of  partisanship ;  but  with 
an  earnest  desire  to  make  the  truth  appear.  The 
reader  must  not  accept  anything  simply  because  we 
say  it,  but  because  he  sees  it  to  be  true.  Now,  as  to 
this  matter  of  insanity,  let  him  think  calmly.  The 
word  is  one  that  gives  us  a  shock  ;  and,  as  we  hear 
it,  we  almost  involuntarily  thank  God  for  the  good 
gift  of  a  well-balanced  mind.  What,  if  from  any 
cause  this  beautiful  equipoise  should  be  disturbed 
and  the  mind  lose  its  power  to  think  clearly,  or  to 
hold  the  lower  passions  in  due  control  ?  Shall  we 
exceed  the  truth  if  we  say  that  the  man  in  whom 
this  takes  place  is  insane  just  in  the  degree  that  he 


62  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

has  lost  his  rational  self-control ;  and  that  he  is 
restored  when  he  regains  that  control  ? 

In  this  view,  the  question  as  to  the  hurtfulness  of 
alcoholic  drinks  assumes  a  new  and  graver  aspect. 
Do  they  disturb  the  brain  when  they  come  in 
contact  with  its  substance;  and  deteriorate  it  if 
the  contact  be  long  continued  ?  Fact,  observation, 
experience  and  scientific  investigation  all  emphati- 
cally say  yes ;  and  we  know  that  if  the  brain  be 
disordered  the  mind  will  be  disordered,  likewise; 
and  a  disordered  mind  is  an  insane  mind.  Clearly, 
then,  in  the  degree  that  a  man  impairs  or  hurts  his 
brain — temporarily  or  continuously — in  that  degree 
his  mind  is  unbalanced ;  in  that  degree  he  is  not  a 
truly  rational  and  sane  man. 

We  are  holding  the  reader's  thought  just  here 
that  he  may  have  time  to  think,  and  to  look  at  the 
question  in  the  light  of  reason  and  common  sense. 
So  far  as  he  does  this,  will  he  be  able  to  feel  the 
force  of  such  evidence  as  we  shall  educe  in  what 
follows,  and  to  comprehend  its  true  meaning. 

NO  SUBSTANCE  AFFECTS  THE  BRAIN  LIKE  ALCOHOL. 

Other  substances  besides  alcohol  act  injuriously 
on  the  brain ;  but  there  is  none  that  compares  with 
this  in  the  extent,  variety  and  diabolical  aspect  of 
the  mental  aberrations  which  follow  its  use.  We 
are  not  speaking  thoughtlessly  or  wildly ;  but  simply 
uttering  a  truth  well-known  to  every  man  of  obser- 
vation, and  which  every  man,  and  especially  those 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.        (J3 

\rlio  take  this  substance  in  any  form,  should  lay 
deeply  to  heart.  Why  it  is  that  such  awful  and 
destructive  forms  of  insanity  should  follow,  as  they 
do,  the  use  of  alcohol  it  is  not  for  us  to  say.  That 
they  do  follow  it,  we  know,  and  we  hold  up  the  fact 
in  solemn  warning. 

INHERITED  LATENT  EVIL  FOECES. 

Another  consideration,  which  should  have  weight 
with  every  one,  is  this,  that  no  man  can  tell  what 
may  be  the  character  of  the  legacy  he  has  received 
from  his  ancestors.  He  may  have  an  inheritance  of 
latent  evil  forces,  transmitted  through  many  gene- 
rations, which  only  await  some  favoring  opportunity 
to  spring  into  life  and  action.  So  long  as  he  main- 
tains a  rational  self-control,  and  the  healthy  order 
of  his  life  be  not  disturbed,  they  may  continue  qui- 
escent ;  but  if  his  brain  loses  its  equipoise,  or  is  hurt 
or  impaired,  theu  a  diseased  psychical  condition  may 
be  induced  and  the  latent  evil  forces  be  quickened 
into  life. 

No  substance  in  nature,  as  far  as  yet  known,  has, 
when  it  reaches  the  brain,  such  power  to  induce 

MENTAL  AND  MORAL  CHANGES  OF  A  DISASTROUS 

CHARACTER 

* 

as  alcohol.  Its  transforming  power  is  marvelous, 
and  often  appalling.  It  seems  to  open  a  way  of 
entrance  into  the  soul  for  all  classes  of  foolish,  insane 
or  malignant  spirits,  who,  so  long  as  it  remains  in 
contact  with  the  brain,  are  able  to  hold  possession. 


64  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOXSTER;   OR, 

Men  of  the  kindest  nature  when  sober,  act  often 
like  fiends  when  drunk.  Crimes  and  outrages  are 
committed,  which  shock  and  shame  the  perpetrators 
when  the  excitement  of  inebriation  has  passed  away. 
Referring  to  this  subject,  Dr.  Henry  Munroe  says: 
"  It  appears  from  the  experience  of  Mr.  Fletcher, 
who  has  paid  much  attention  to  the  cases  of  drunk- 
ards, from  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Dunn,  in  his '  Medi- 
cal Psychology,'  and  from  observations  of  my  own, 
that  there  is  some  analogy  between  our  physical  and 
psychical  natures ;  for,  as  the  physical  part  of  us, 
when  its  power  is  at  a  low  ebb,  becomes  susceptible 
of  morbid  influences  which,  in  full  vigor,  would  pass 
over  it  without  effect,  so  when  the  psychical  (synony- 
mous with  the  moral)  part  of  the  brain  has  its 
healthy  function  disturbed  and  deranged  by  the 
introduction  of  a  morbid  poison  like  alcohol,  the 
individual  so  circumstanced  sinks  in  depravity,  and 

BECOMES  THE  HELPLESS  SUBJECT  OF  THE  FORCES  OF 

EVIL, 

which  are  powerless  against  a  nature  free  from  the 
morbid  influences  of  alcohol. 

"  Different  persons  are  affected  in  different  ways 
by  the  same  poison.  Indulgence  in  alcoholic  drinks 
may  act  upon  one  or  more  of  the  cerebral  organs ; 
and,  as  its  necessary  conseojience,  the  manifestations 
of  functional  disturbance  will  follow  in  such  of  the 
mental  powers  as  these  organs  subserve.  If  the 
indulgence  be  continued,  then,  either  from  deranged 
nutrition  or  organic  lesion,  manifestations  formerly 


"TAKE  WARNING  BY  MY  CAREER." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  (57 

developed  only  during  a  fit  of  intoxication  may  be- 
come permanent,  and  terminate  in  insanity  or  dyp- 
somania.  M.  Flourens  first  pointed  out  the  fact 
that  certain  morbific  agents,  when  introduced  into 
the  current  of  the  circulation,  tend  to  act  primarily 
and  specially  on  one  nervous  centre  in  preference  to 
that  of  another,  by  virtue  of  some  special  elective 
affinity  between  such  morbific  agents  and  certain 
ganglia.  Thus,  in  the  tottering  gait  of  the  tipsy 
man,  we  see  the  influence  of  alcohol  upon  the  func- 
tions of  the  cerebellum  in  the  impairment  of  its 
power  of  co-ordinating  the  muscles. 

"  Certain  writers  on  diseases  of  the  mind  make 
especial  allusion  to  that  form  of  insanity  termed 
DYPSOMANIA,  in  which  a  person  has  an  unquenchable 
thirst  for  alcoholic  drinks — a  tendency  as  decidedly 
maniacal  as  that  of  homicidal  mania  ;  or  the  uncon- 
trollable desire  to  burn,  termed  pyromania  ;  or  to 
steal,  called  kleptomania. 

HOMICIDAL  MANIA. 

"  The  different  tendencies  of  homicidal  mania  in 
different  individuals  are  often  only  nursed  into  action 
when  the  current  of  the  blood  has  been  poisoned 
with  alcohol.  I  had  a  case  of  a  person  who,  when- 
ever his  brain  was  so  excited,  told  me  that  he  expe- 
rienced a  most  uncontrollable  desire  to  kill  or  injure 
some  one ;  so  much  so,  that  he  could  at  times  hardly 
restrain  himself  from  the  action,  and  was  obliged  to 
refrain  from  all  stimulants,  lest,  in  an  unlucky  mo- 


(>8  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

ment,  he  might  commit  himself.  Townley,  who 
murdered  thfc  young  lady  of  his  affections,  for  which 
he  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  in  a  lunatic  asy- 
lum for  life,  poisoned  his  brain  with  brandy  and 
soda-water  before  he  committed  the  rash  act.  The 
brandy  stimulated  into  action  certain  portions  of  the 
brain,  which  acquired  such  a  power  as  to  subjugate 
his  will,  and  hurry  him  to  the  performance  of  a 
frightful  deed,  opposed  alike  to  his  better  judgment 
and  his  ordinary  desires. 

"As  to  pyromania,  some  years  ago  I  knew  a 
laboring  man  in  a  country  village,  who,  whenever 
he  had  had  a  few  glasses  of  ale  at  the  public-house, 
would  chuckle  with  delight  at  the  thought  of  firing- 
certain  gentlemen's  stacks.  Yet,  when  his  brain 
was  free  from  the  poison,  a  quieter,  better- disposed 
man  could  not  be.  Unfortunately,  he  became  ad- 
dicted to  habits  of  intoxication ;  and,  one  night, 
under  alcoholic  excitement,  fired  some  stacks  be- 
longing to  his  employers,  for  which  he  was  sentenced 
for  fifteen  years  to  a  penal  settlement,  where  his 
brain  would  never  again  be  alcoholically  excited. 

KLEPTOMANIA. 

"Next,  I  will  give  an  example  of  kleptomania. 
I  knew,  many  years  ago,  a  very  clever,  industrious 
and  talented  young  man,  who  told  me  that  when- 
ever he  had  been  drinking,  he  could  hardly  with- 
stand the  temptation  of  stealing  anything  that  came 
in  his  way •  but  that  these  feelings  never  troubled 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  CO 

him  at  other  times.  One  afternoon,  after  he  had 
been  indulging  with  his  fellow-workmen  in  drink, 
his  will,  unfortunately,  was  overpowered,  and  he 
took  from  the  mansion  where  he  was  working  some 
articles  of  worth,  for  which  he  was  accused,  and 
afterwards  sentenced  to  a  term  of  imprisonment. 
When  set  at  liberty  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  be 
placed  among  some  kind-hearted  persons,  vulgarly 
called  teetotallers;  and,  from  conscientious  motives, 
signed  the  PLEDGE,  now  above  twenty  years  ago. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  moment  he  has  never 
experienced  the  overmastering  desire  which  so  often 
beset  him  in  his  drinking  days — to  take  that  which 
was  not  his  own.  Moreover,  no  pretext  on  earth  could 
now  entice  him  to  taste  of  any  liquor  containing 
alcohol,  feeling  that,  under  its  influence,  he  might 
again  fall  its  victim.  He  holds  an  influential  posi- 
tion in  the  town  where  he  resides. 

"  I  have  known  some  ladies  of  good  position  in 
society,  who,  after  a  dinner  or  supper-party,  and 
after  having  taken  sundry  glasses  of  wine,  could  not 
withstand  the  temptation  of  taking  home  any  little 
article  not  their  own,  when  the  opportunity  offered; 
and  who,  in  their  sober  moments,  have  returned 
them,  as  if  taken  by  mistake.  We  have  many 
instances  recorded  in  our  police  reports  of  gentlemen 
of  position,  under  the  influence  of  drink,  committing 
thefts  of  the  most  paltry  articles,  afterwards  returned 
to  the  owners  by  their  friends,  which  can  only  be 
accounted  for,  psychologically,  by  the  fact  that  the 


70  GRAPPLIXC   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

will  had  been  for  the  time  completely  overpowereu 
by  the  subtle  influence  of  alcohol. 

LOSS  OF  MENTAL  CLEARNESS. 

"  That  alcohol,  whether  taken  in  large  or  small 
doses,  immediately  disturbs  the  natural  functions  of 
the  mind  and  body,  is  now  conceded  by  the  most 
eminent  physiologists.  Dr.  Brinton  says :  '  Mental 
acuteness,  accuracy  of  conception,  and  delicacy  of 
the  senses,  are  all  so  far  opposed  by  the  action  of 
alcohol,  as  that  the  maximum  efforts  of  each  are 
incompatible  with  the  ingestion  of  any  moderate 
quantity  of  fermented  liquid.  Indeed,  there  is 
scarcely  any  calling  which  demands  skillful  and 
exact  effort  of  mind  and  body,  or  which  requires 
the  balanced  exercise  of  many  faculties,  that  does 
not  illustrate  this  rule.  The  mathematician,  the 
gambler,  the  metaphysician,  the  billiard-player,  the 
author,  the  artist,  the  physician,  would,  if  they 
could  analyze  their  experience  aright,  generally 
concur  in  the  statement,  that  a  single  glass  will 
often  suffice  to  take,  so  to  speak,  the  edge  off  both 
mind  and  body,  and  to  reduce  their  capacity  to 
something  below  what  is  relatively  their  perfection 
of  work.' 

"  Not  long  ago,  a  railway  train  was  driven  care- 
lessly into  one  of  the  principal  London  stations, 
running  into  another  train,  killing,  by  the  collision, 
six  or  seven  persons,  and  injuring  many  others. 
From  the  evidence  at  the  inquest,  it  appeared  that 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 


71 


the  guard  was  reckoned  sober,  only  he  had  had  two 
glasses  of  ale  with  a  friend  at  a  previous  station. 
Now,  reasoning  psychologically,  these  two  glasses  of 
ale  had  probably  been  instrumental  in  taking  off 
the  edge  from  his  perceptions  and  prudence,  and 
producing  a  carelessness  or  boldness  of  action  which 
would  not  have  occurred  under  the  cooling,  tem- 
perate influence  of  a  beverage  free  from  alcohol. 
Many  persons  have  admitted  to  me  that  they  were 
not  the  same  after  taking  even  one  glass  of  ale  or 
wine  that  they  were  before,  and  could  not  thoroughly 
trust  themselves  after  they  had  taken  this  single  glass." 

IMPAIRMENT  OF  MEMORY. 

An  impairment  of  the  memory  is  among  the  early 
symptoms  of  alcoholic  derangement. 

"  This,"  says  Dr.  Richardson,  "  extends  even  to 
forgetfulness  of  the  commonest  things ;  to  names  of 
familiar  persons,  to  dates,  to  duties  of  daily  life. 
Strangely,  too,"  he  adds,  "this  failure,  like  that 
which  indicates,  in  the  aged,  the  era  of  second 
childishness  and  mere  oblivion,  does  not  extend  to 
the  things  of  the  past,  but  is  confined  to  events  that 
are  passing.  On  old  memories  the  mind  retains  its 
power ;  on  new  ones  it  requires  constant  prompting 
and  sustainment." 

In  this  failure  of  memory  nature  gives  a  solemn 
warning  that  imminent  peril  is  at  hand.  Well 
for  the  habitual  drinker  if  he  heed  the  warn- 
ing. Should  he  not  do  so,  symptoms  of  a  more 


72  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

serious  character  will,  in  time,  develop  themselves, 
as  the  brain  becomes  more  and  more  diseased, 
ending,  it  may  be,  in  permanent  insanity. 

MENTAL  AND  MORAL  DISEASES. 

Of  the  mental  and  moral  diseases  which  too  often 
follow  the  regular  drinking  of  alcohol,  we  have 
painful  records  in  asylum  reports,  in  medical  testi- 
mony and  in  our  daily  observation  and  experience. 
These  are  so  full  and  varied,  and  thrust  so  con~ 
stantly  on  our  attention,  that  the  wonder  is  that 
men  are  not  afraid  to  run  the  terrible  risks  involved 
even  in  what  is  called  the  moderate  use  of  alcoholic 
beverages. 

In  1872,  a  select  committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, appointed  "  to  consider  the  best  plan  for  the 
control  and  management  of  habitual  drunkards," 
called  upon  some  of  the  most  eminent  medical  men 
in  Great  Britain  to  give  their  testimony  in  answer 
to  a  large  number  of  questions,  embracing  every 
topic  within  the  range  of  inquiry,  from  the  pathology 
of  inebriation  to  the  practical  usefulness  of  prohib- 
itory laws.  In  this  testimony  much  was  said  about 
the  effect  of  alcoholic  stimulation  on  the  mental  con- 
dition and  moral  character.  One  physician,  Dr. 
James  Crichton  Brown,  who,  in  ten  years'  experi- 
ence as  superintendent  of  lunatic  asylums,  has  paid 
special  attention  to  the  relations  of  habitual  drunken- 
ness to  insanity,  having  carefully  examined  five  hun- 
dred cases,  testified  that  alcohol,  taken  in  excess,  pro- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  73 

duced  different  forms  of  mental  disease,  of  which  he 
mentioned  four  classes :  1.  Mania  a  potu,  or  alcoholic 
mania.  2.  The  monomania  of  suspicion.  3.  Chronic 
alcoholism,  characterized  by  failure  of  the  mem- 
ory and  power  of  judgment,  with  partial  paralysis 
— generally  ending  fatally.  4.  Dypsomania,  or  an 
irresistible  craving  for  alcoholic  stimulants,  occur- 
ing  very  frequently,  paroxysmally,  and  with  con- 
stant liability  to  periodical  exacerbations,  when  the 
craving  becomes  altogether  uncontrollable.  Of  this 
latter  form  of  disease,  he  says:  "This  is  invariably 
associated  with  a  certain  impairment  of  the  intellect, 
and  of  tlie  affections  and  the  moral  powers" 

Dr.  Alexander  Peddie,  a  physician  of  over 
thirty-seven  years'  practice  in  Edinburgh,  gave,  in 
his  evidence,  many  remarkable  instances  of  the 
moral  perversions  that  followed  continued  drinking. 

RELATION  BETWEEN  INSANITY  AND  DRUNKENNESS. 

Dr.  John  Nugent  said  that  his  experience  of 
twenty -six  years  among  lunatics,  led  him  to  believe 
that  there  is  a  very  close  relation  between  the 
results  of  the  abuse  of  alcohol  and  insanity.  The 
population  of  Ireland  had  decreased,  he  said,  two 
millions  in  twenty-five  years,  but  there  was  the 
same  amount  of  insanity  now  that  there  was  before. 
He  attributed  this,  in  a  great  measure,  to  indulgence 
in  drink. 

Dr.  Arthur  Mitchell,  Commissioner  of  Lunacy 
for  Scotland,  testified  that  the  exjessive  use  of 


74  GRAPPLING  WITH  TTTE  MONSTER;   OR, 

alcohol  caused  a  large  amount  of  the  lunacy,  crime 
and  pauperism  of  that  country.  In  some  men,  he 
said,  habitual  drinking  leads  10  other  diseases  than 
insanity,  because  the  effect  is  always  in  the  direction 
of  the  proclivity,  but  it  is  certain  that  there  are 
many  in  whom  there  is  a  clear  proclivity  to  in- 
sanity, who  would  escape  thai  dreadful  consumma- 
tion but  for  drinking;  excessive  drinking  in  many 
persons  determining  the  insanity  to  which  they  are, 
at  any  rate,  predisposed.  The  children  of  drunkards, 
he  further  said,  are  in  a  larger  proportion  idiotic  than 
other  children,  and  in  a  larger  proportion  become 
themselves  drunkards;  they  are  also  in  a  larger 
proportion  liable  to  the  ordinary  forms  of  acquired 
insanity. 

Dr.  Winslow  Forbes  believed  that  in  the  ha- 
bitual drunkard  the  whole  nervous  structure,  and 
the  brain  especially,  became  poisoned  by  alcohol. 
All  the  mental  symptoms  which  you  see  accompa- 
nying ordinary  intoxication,  he  remarks,  result  from 
the  poisonous  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  brain.  It  is 
the  brain  which  is  mainly  effected.  In  temporary 
drunkenness,  the  brain  becomes  in  an  abnormal 
state  of  alimentation,  and  if  this  habit  is  persisted 
in  for  years,  the  nervous  tissue  itself  becomes  per- 
meated with  alcohol,  and  organic  changes  take  place 
in  the  nervous  tissues  of  the  brain,  producing  that 
frightful  and  dreadful  chronic  insanity  which  we  see 
in  lunatic  asylums,  traceable  entirely  to  habits  of 
intoxication.  A  large  percentage  of  frightful  mental 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  7<~> 

and  brain  disturbances  can,  he  declared,  be  traced 
to  the  drunkenness  of  parents. 

Dr.  D.  G.  Dodge,  late  of  the  New  York  State 
Inebriate  Asylum,  who,  with  Dr.  Joseph  Parrish, 
gave  testimony  before  the  committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  said,  in  one  of  his  answers :  "  With 
the  excessive  use  of  alcohol,  functional  disorder  will 
invariably  appear,  and  no  organ  will  be  more  seri- 
ously affected,  and  possibly  impaired,  than  the  brain. 
This  is  shown  in  the  inebriate  by  a  weakened  intel- 
lect, a  general  debility  of  the  mental  faculties,  a 
partial  or  total  loss  of  self-respect,  and  a  departure 
of  the  power  of  self-command ;  all  of  which,  acting 
together,  place  the  victim  at  the  mercy  of  a  depraved 
and  morbid  appetite,  and  make  him  utterly  power- 
less, by  his  own  unaided  efforts,  to  secure  his  recov- 
ery from  the  disease  which  is  destroying  him/'  And 
he  adds :  "  I  am  of  opinion  that  there  is  a 

GREAT  SIMILARITY  BETWEEN  INEBRIETY  AND 
INSANITY. 

I  am  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  former  has  taken 
its  place  in  the  family  of  diseases  as  prominently  as 
its  twin-brother  insanity ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  the 
day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  pathology  of  the 
former  will  be  as  fully  understood  and  as  successfully 
treated  as  the  latter,  and  even  more  successfully, 
since  it  is  more  within  the  reach  and  bounds  of 
human  control,  which,  wisely  exercised  and  scien- 
tifically administered,  may  prevent  curable  inebria- 
tion from  verging  into  possible  incurable  insanity," 


76  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

GENERAL   IMPAIRMENT  OF  THE   FACULTIES. 

In  a  more  recent  lecture  than  the  one  from  which 
we  have  quoted  so  freely,  Dr.  Richardson,  speaking 
of  the  action  of  alcohol  on  the  mind,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing sad  picture  of  its  ravages : 

"An  analysis  of  the  condition  of  the  mind  in- 
duced and  maintained  by  the  free  daily  use  of  alco- 
hol as  a  drink,  reveals  a  singular  order  of  facts. 
The  manifestation  fails  altogether  to  reveal  the 
exaltation  of  any  reasoning  power  in  a  useful  or 
satisfactory  direction.  I  have  never  met  with  an 
instance  in  which  such  a  claim  for  alcohol  has  been 
made.  On  the  contrary,  confirmed  alcoholics  con- 
stantly say  that  for  this  or  that  work,  requiring 
thought  and  attention,  it  is  necessary  to  forego  some 
of  the  usual  potations  in  order  to  have  a  cool  head 
for  hard  work. 

"  On  the  other  side,  the  experience  is  overwhelm- 
ingly in  favor  of  the  observation  that  the  use  of 

ALCOHOL  SELLS  THE  REASONING  POWERS, 

make  weak  men  and  women  the  easy  prey  of  the 
wicked  and  strong,  and  leads  men  and  women  who 
should  know  better  into  every  grade  of  misery  and 
vice.  *  *  *  If,  then,  alcohol  enfeebles  the 
reason,  what  part  of  the  mental  constitution  does  it 
exalt  and  excite  ?  It  excites  and  exalts  those  animal, 
organic,  emotional  centres  of  mind  which,  in  the 
dual  nature  of  man,  so  often  cross  and  oppose  that 
pure  and  abstract  reasoning  nature  which  lifts  man 


THE  CURSE  AXD  THE  CUES.  77 

above  the  lower  animals,  and  rightly  exercised,  little 
lower  than  the  angels; 

IT  EXCITES  MAN'S  WORST  PASSIONS. 

"  Exciting  these  animal  centres,  it  lets  loose  all  the 
passions,  and  gives  them  more  or  less  of  unlicensed 
dominion  over  the  man.  It  excites  anger,  and  when 
it  does  not  lead  to  this  extreme,  it  keeps  the  mind 
fretful,  irritable,  dissatisfied  and  captious.  *  *  ,  * 
And  if  I  were  to  take  you  through  all  the  passions, 
love,  hate,  lust,  envy,  avarice  and  pride,  I  should 
but  show  you  that  alcohol  ministers  to  them  all ; 
that,  paralyzing  the  reason,  it  takes  from  off  these 
passions  that  fine  adjustment  of  reason,  which  places 
man  above  the  lower  animals.  From  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  its  influence  it  subdues  reason  and 
sets  the  passions  free.  The  analogies,  physical  and 
mental,  are  perfect.  That  which  loosens  the  tension 
of  the  vessels  which  feed  the  body  with  due  order 
and  precision,  and,  thereby,  lets  loose  the  heart  to 
violent  excess  and  unbridled  motion,  loosens,  also, 
the  reason  and  lets  loose  the  passion.  In  both  in- 
stances, heart  and  head  are,  for  a  time,  out  of  har- 
mony ;  their  balance  broken.  The  man  descends 
closer  and  closer  to  the  lower  animals.  From  the 
angels  he  glides  farther  and  farther  away. 

A  SAD  AND  TERRIBLE  PICTURE. 

"  The  destructive  effects  of  alcohol  on  the  human 
mind  present,  finally,  the  saddest  picture  of  its  in- 


78  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

fluence.  The  most  aesthetic  artist  can  find  no  angel 
here.  All  is  animal,  and  animal  of  the  worst  type. 
Memory  irretrievably  lost,  words  and  very  elements 
of  speech  forgotten  or  words  displaced  to  have  no 
meaning  in  them.  Rage  and  anger  persistent  and 
mischievous,  or  remittent  and  impotent.  Fear  at 
every  corner  of  life,  distrust  on  every  side,  grief 
merged  into  blank  despair,  hopelessness  into  per- 
manent melancholy.  Surely  no  Pandemonium  that 
ever  poet  dreamt  of  could  equal  that  which  would 
exist  if  all  the  drunkards  of  the  world  were  driven 
into  one  mortal  sphere. 

"As  I  have  moved  among  those  who  are  physi- 
cally stricken  with  alcohol,  and  have  detected  under 
the  various  disguises  of  name  the  fatal  diseases,  the 
pains  and  penalties  it  imposes  on  the  body,  the 
picture  has  been  sufficiently  cruel.  But  even  that 
picture  pales,  as  I  conjure  up,  without  any  stretch 
of  imagination,  the  devastations  which  the  same 
agent  inflicts  on  the  mind.  Forty  per  cent.,  the 
learned  Superintendent  of  Colney  Hatch,  Dr.  Shep- 
pard,  tells  us,  of  those  who  were  brought  into  that 
asylum  in  1876,  were  so  brought  because  of  the 
direct  or  indirect  effects  of  alcohol.  If  the  facts  of  all 
the  asylums  were  collected  with  equal  care,  the  same 
tale  would,  I  fear,  be  told.  AVhat  need  we  further 
to  show  the  destructive  action  on  the  human  mind  ? 
The  Pandemonium  of  drunkards ;  the  grand  trans- 
formation scene  of  that  pantomime  of  drink  which 
connivences  with  moderation  !  Let  it  never  more  be 


CRAZED  BY  DRINK. 
'  God's  rational  offspring  .  .  .  become  a  brute." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE,  81 

forgotten  by  those  who  love  their  fellow-men  until, 
through  their  efforts,  it  is  closed  forever." 

o  • 

We  might  go  on,  adding  page  after  page  of  evi- 
dence, showing  how  alcohol  curses  the  souls,  as  well 
as  the  bodies,  of  men  ;  but  enough  has  been  educed 
to  force  conviction  on  the  mind  of  every  reader  not 
already  satisfied  of  its  poisonous  and  destructive 
quality. 

How  light  are  all  evils  flowing  from  intemperance 
compared  with  those  which  it  thus  inflicts  on  man's 
higher  nature.  "  What,"  says  Dr.  W.  E.  Channing, 
"  is  the  great  essential  evil  of  intemperance  ?  The 
reply  is  given,  when  I  say,  that  intemperance  is  the 

VOLUNTARY  EXTINCTION  OF  EEASON. 

The  great  evil  is  inward  or  spiritual.  The  intem- 
perate man  divests  himself,  for  a  time,  of  his  rational 
and  moral  nature,  casts  from  himself  self-conscious- 
ness and  self-command,  brings  on  frenzy,  and  by 
repetition  of  this  insanity,  prostrates  more  and  more 
his  rational  and  moral  powers.  He  sins  immedi- 
ately and  directly  against  the  rational  nature,  that 
Divine  principle  which  distinguishes  between  truth 
and  falsehood,  between  right  and  wrong  action, 
which  distinguishes  man  from  the  brute.  This  is  the 
essence  of  the  vice,  what  constitutes  its  peculiar 
guilt  and  woe,  and  what  should  particularly  impress 
and  awaken  those  who  are  laboring  for  its  suppression. 
Other  evils  of  intemperance  are  light  compared  with 
this,  and  almost  all  flow  from  this ;  and  it  is  right, 


82  GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

it  is  to  be  desired  that  all  other  evils  should  be 
joined  with  and  follow  this.  It  is  to  be  desired, 
when  a  man  lifts  a  suicidal  arm  against  his  higher 
life,  when  he  quenches  reason  and  conscience,  that 
he  and  all  others  should  receive  solemn,  startling 
warning  of  the  greatness  of  his  guilt ;  that  terrible 
outward  calamities  should  bear  witness  to  the  in- 
ward ruin  which  he  is  working;  that  the  hand- 
writing of  judgment  and  woe  on  his  countenance, 
form  and  whole  condition,  should  declare  what  a 
fearful  thing  it  is  for  a  man,  "  God's  rational  off- 
spring, to  renounce  his  reason,  and  become  a  brute." 


CHAPTER  V. 

NOT  A  FOOD,  AND  VEEY  LIMITED  IN  ITS  RANGE  AS  A 
MEDICINE. 

THE  use  of  alcohol  as  a  medicine  has  been  very 
large.  If  his  patient  was  weak  and  nervous, 
the  physician  too  often  ordered  wine  or  ale ;  or,  not 
taking  the  trouble  to  refer  his  own  case  to  a  physi- 
cian, the  invalid  prescribed  these  articles  for  himself. 
If  there  was  a  failure  of  appetite,  its  restoration  was 
sought  in  the  use  of  one  or  both  of  the  above-named 
forms  of  alcohol;  or,  perhaps,  adopting  a  more 
heroic  treatment,  the  sufferer  poured  brandy  or 
whisky  into  his  weak  and  sensitive  stomach.  Pro- 
tection from  cold  was  sought  in  a  draught  of  some 
alcoholic  beverage,  and  relief  from  fatigue  and  ex- 
haustion in  the  use  of  the  same  deleterious  substance. 
Indeed,  there  is  scarcely  any  form  of  bodily  ailment, 
or  discomfort,  or  mental  disturbance,  for  the  relief 
of  which  a  resort  was  not  had  to  alcohol  in  some  one 
of  its  many  forms. 

It  is  fair  to  say  that,  as  a  medicine,  its  consump- 
tion has  far  exceeded  that  of  any  other  substance 
prescribed  and  taken  for  physical  and  mental  de- 
rangements. 

The  inquiry,  then,  as  to  the  true  remedial  value 


84  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

of  alcohol  is  one  of  the  gravest  import ;  and  it  is  of 
interest  to  know  that  for  some  years  past  the  medi- 
cal profession  has  been  giving  this  subject  a  careful 
and  thorough  investigation.  The  result  is  to  be 
found  in  the  brief  declaration  made  by  the  Section 
on  Medicine,  of  the 

INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  CONGRESS, 

which  met  in  Philadelphia  in  1876.  This  body 
was  composed  of  about  six  hundred  delegates,  from 
Europe  and  America,  among  them,  some  of  the  ablest 
men  in  the  profession.  Realizing  the  importance  of 
some  expression  in  relation  to  the  use  of  alcohol, 
medical  and  otherwise,  from  this  Congress,  the  Na- 
tional Temperance  Society  laid  before  it,  through 
its  President,  W.  E.  Dodge,  and  Secretary,  J.  N. 
Stearns,  the  following  memorial : 

"  The  National  Temperance  Society  sends  greet- 
ing, and  respectfully  invites  from  your  distinguished 
body  a  public  declaration  to  the  effect  that  alcohol 
should  be  classed  with  other  powerful  drugs ;  that, 
when  prescribed  medicinally,  it  should  be  with  con- 
scientious caution  and  a  sense  of  grave  responsibility; 
that  it  is  in  no  sense  food  to  the  human  system ;  that 
its  improper  use  is  productive  of  a  large  amount  of 
physical  disease,  tending  to  deteriorate  the  human 
race;  and  to  recommend,  as  representatives  of  en- 
lightened science,  to  your  several  nationalities,  total 
abstinence  from  alcoholic  beverages." 

In  response  to  this  memorial,  the  president  of 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  85 

the  society  received  from  J.  Ewing  Hears,  M.  D., 
Secretary  of  the  Section  on  Medicine,  International 
Congress,  the  following  official  letter,  under  date  of 
September  9th,  1876 : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  am  instructed  by  the  Section  on 
Medicine,  International  Medical  Congress,  of  187G, 
to  transmit  to  you,  as  the  action  of  the  Section,  the 
following  conclusions  adopted  by  it  with  regard  to 
the  use  of  alcohol  in  medicine,  the  same  being  in 
reply  to  the  communication  sent  by  the  National 
Temperance  Society. 

"  1.  Alcohol  is  not  shown  to  have  a  definite  food 
value  by  any  of  the  usual  methods  of  chemical 
analysis  or  physiological  investigation. 

"  2.  Its  use  as  a  medicine  is  chiefly  that  of  a  car- 
diac stimulant,  and  often  admits  of  substitution. 

"  3.  As  a  medicine,  it  is  not  well  fitted  for  self- 
prescription  by  the  laity,  and  the  medical  profession 
is  not  accountable  for  such  administration,  or  for  the 
enormous  evils  arising  therefrom. 

"  4.  The  purity  of  alcoholic  liquors  is,  in  general, 
not  as  well  assured  as  that  of  articles  used  for  medi- 
cine should  be.  The  various  mixtures,  when  used 
as  medicine,  should  have  definite  and  known  com- 
position, and  should  not  be  interchanged  promiscu- 
ously." 

The  reader  will  see  in  this  no  hesitating  or  half- 
way speech.  The  declaration  is  strong  and  clear,  that, 
as  a  food,  alcohol  is  not  shown,  when  subjected  to  the 
usual  method  of  chemical  or  physiological  investi- 


86  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

gation,  to  have  any  food  value ;  and  that,  as  a 
medicine,  its  use  is  chiefly  confined  to  a  cardiac 
stimulant,  and  often  admits  of  substitution. 

A  declaration  like  this,  coming,  as  it  does,  from  a 
body  of  medical  men  representing  the  most  advanced 
ideas  held  by  the  profession,  must  have  great  weight 
with  the  people.  But  we  do  not  propose  resting  on 
this  declaration  alone.  As  it  was  based  on  the  re- 
sults of  chemical  and  physiological  investigations, 
let  us  go  back  of  the  opinion  expressed  by  the 
Medical  Congress,  and  examine  these  results,  in 
order  that  the  ground  of  its  opinion  may  become 
apparent. 

There  was  presented  to  this  Congress,  by  a  dis- 
tinguished physician  of  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Ezra  M. 
Hunt,  a  paper  on  "  Alcohol  as  a  Food  and  Medi- 
cine," in  which  the  whole  subject  is  examined  in 
the  light  of  the  most  recent  and  carefully-conducted 
experiments  of  English,  French,  German  and  Amer- 
ican chemists  and  physiologists,  and  their  conclu- 
sions, as  well  as  those  of  the  author  of  the  paper, 
set  forth  in  the  plainest  manner.  This  has  since 
been  published  by  the  National  Temperance  Society, 
and  should  be  read  and  carefully  studied  by  every 
one  who  is  seeking  for  accurate  information  on  the 
important  subject  we  are  now  considering.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  to  more  than  glance  at  the  evidence 
brought  forward  in  proof  of  the  assertion  that 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £7 

ALCOHOL  HAS  NO  FOOD  VALUE, 

and  is  exceedingly  limited  in  its  action  as  a  remedial 
agent ;  and  AVC,  therefore,  urge  upon  all  who  are 
interested  in  this  subject,  to  possess  themselves  of 
Dr.  Hunt's  exhaustive  treatise,  and  to  study  it  care- 
fully. 

If  the  reader  will  refer  to  the  quotation  made  by 
us  in  the  second  chapter  from  Dr.  Henry  Monroe, 
where  the  food  value  of  any  article  is  treated  of,  he 
will  see  it  stated  that  "  every  kind  of  substance  em- 
ployed by  man  as  food  consists  of  sugar,  starch,  oil 
and  glutinous  matter,  mingled  together  in  various 
proportions ;  these  are  designed  for  the  support  of 
the  animal  frame.  The  glutinous  principles  of 
food — fibrine,  albumen  and  casein — are  employed 
to  build  up  the  structure ;  while  the  oil,  starch  and 
sugar  are  chiefly  used  to  generate  heat  in  the  body." 

Now,  it  is  clear,  that  if  alcohol  is  a  food,  it  will 
be  found  to  contain  one  or  more  of  these  substances. 
There  must  be  in  it  either  the  nitrogenous  elements 
found  chiefly  in  meats,  eggs,  milk,  vegetables  and 
seeds,  out  of  which  animal  tissue  is  built  and  waste 
repaired ;  or  the  carbonaceous  elements  found  in  fat, 
starch  and  sugar,  in  the  consumption  of  which  heat 
and  force  are  evolved. 

"  The  distinctness  of  these  groups  of  foods,"  says 
Dr.  Hunt,  "  and  their  relations  to  the  tissue-pro- 
ducing and  heat-evolving  capacities  of  man,  are  so 
definite  and  so  confirmed  by  experiments  on  animals 


88  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

and  by  manifold  tests  of  scientific,  physiological 
and  clinical  experience,  that  no  attempt  to  discard 
the  classification  has  prevailed.  To  draw  so  straight 
a  line  of  demarcation  as  to  limit  the  one  entirely  to 
tissue  or  cell  production,  and  the  other  to  heat  and 
force  production  through  ordinary  combustion,  and 
to  deny  any  power  of  interchangeability  under 
special  demands  or  amid  defective  supply  of  one 
variety,  is,  indeed,  untenable.  This  does  not  in  the 
least  invalidate  the  fact  that  we  are  able  to  use  these 
as  ascertained  landmarks." 

How  these  substances,  when  taken  into  the  body, 
are  assimilated,  and  how  they  generate  force,  are 
well  known  to  the  chemist  and  physiologist,  who  is 
able,  in  the  light  of  well-ascertained  laws,  to  deter- 
mine whether  alcohol  does  or  does  not  possess  a  food 
value.  For  years,  the  ablest  men  in  tne  medical 
profession  have  given  this  subject  the  most  careful 
study,  and  have  subjected  alcohol  to  every  known 
test  and  experiment,  and  the  result  is  that  it  has 
been,  by  common  consent,  excluded  from  the  class 
of  tissue-building  foods.  "We  have  never,"  says 
Dr.  Hunt,  "seen  but  a  single  suggestion  that  it 
could  so  act,  and  this  a  promiscuous  guess.  One 
writer  (Hammond)  thinks  it  possible  that  it  may 
'somehow'  enter  into  combination  with  the  products 
of  decay  in  tissues,  and  'under  certain  circumstan- 
ces might  yield  their  nitrogen  to  the  construction  of 
new  tissues/  No  parallel  in  organic  chemistry,  nor 
any  evidence  in  animal  chemistry,  can  be  found  to 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  gQ 

surround  this  guess  with  the  areola  of  d  possible 
hypothesis." 

Dr.  Richardson  says :  "Alcohol  contains  no  ni- 
trogen ;  it  has  none  of  the  qualities  of  structure- 
building  foods  ;  it  is  incapable  of  being  transformed 
into  any  of  them ;  it  is,  therefore,  not  a  food  in  any 
sense  of  its  being  a  constructive  agent  in  building 
up  the  body."  Dr.  W.  B.  Carpenter  says:  "Al- 
cohol cannot  supply  anything  which  is  essential  to 
the  true  nutrition  of  the  tissues."  Dr.  Liebig  says: 
"  Beer,  wine,  spirits,  etc.,  furnish  no  element  capable 
of  entering  into  the  composition  of  the  blood,  mus- 
cular fibre,  or  any  part  which  is  the  seat  of  the 
principle  of  life."  Dr.  Hammond,  in  his  Tribune 
Lectures,  in  which  he  advocates  the  use  of  alcohol 
in  certain  cases,  says :  "  It  is  not  demonstrable  that 
alcohol  undergoes  conversion  into  tissue."  Cameron, 
in  his  Manuel  of  Hygiene,  says  :  "  There  is  nothing 
in  alcohol  with  which  any  part  of  the  body  can  be 
nourished."  Dr.  E.  Smith,  F.  R  S.,  says:  "Alcohol 
is  not  a  true  food.  It  interferes  with  alimenta- 
tion." Dr.  T.  K.  Chambers  says :  "  It  is  clear  that 
we  must  cease  to  regard  alcohol,  as  in  any  sense,  a 
food." 

"  Not  detecting  in  this  substance,"  says  Dr.  Huntr 
"  any  tissue-making  ingredients,  nor  in  its  breaking 
up  any  combinations,  such  as  we  are  able  to  trace  in 
the  cell  foods,  nor  any  evidence  either  in  the  expe- 
rience of  physiologists  or  the  trials  of  alimentarians, 
it  is  not  wonderful  that  in  it  we  should  find  neither 


90  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER ;   OR, 

the  expectancy  nor  the  realization  of  constructive 
power." 

Not  finding  in  alcohol  anything  out  of  which  the 
body  can  be  built  up  or  its  waste  supplied,  it  is  next 
to  be  examined  as  to  its  heat-producing  quality 

ALCOHOL  NOT  A  PRODUCER  OF  HEAT. 

"The  first  usual  test  for  a  force-producing  food," 
says  Dr.  Hunt,  "  and  that  to  which  other  foods  of 
that  class  respond,  is  the  production  of  heat  in  the 
combination  of  oxygen  therewith.  This  heat  means 
vital  force,  and  is,  in  no  small  degree,  a  measure  of 
the  comparative  value  of  the  so-called  respiratory 
foods.  *  *  *  If  we  examine  the  fats,  the  starches 
and  the  sugars,  we  can  trace  and  estimate  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  they  evolve  heat  and  are  changed 
into  vital  force,  and  can  weigh  the  capacities  of 
different  foods.  We  find  that  the  consumption  of 
carbon  by  union  with  oxygen  is  the  law,  that  heat 
is  the  product,  and  that  the  legitimate  result  is  force, 
while  the  result  of  the  union  of  the  hydrogen  of  the 
foods  with  oxygen  is  water.  If  alcohol  comes  at  all 
under  this  class  of  foods,  we  rightly  expect  to  find 
some  of  the  evidences  which  attach  to  the  hydro- 
carbons." 

What,  then,  is  the  result  of  experiments  in  this 
direction  ?  They  have  been  conducted  through  long 
periods  and  with  the  greatest  care,  by  men  of  the 
highest  attainments  in  chemistry  and  physiology, 
and  the  result  is  given  in  these  few  words,  by  Dr. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  91 

H.  K.  Wood,  Jr.,  in  his  Materi  Medica.  "  No  one 
has  been  able  to  detect  in  the  blood  any  of  the  ordi- 
nary results  of  its  oxidation."  That  is,  no  one  has 
been  able  to  find  that  alcohol  has  undergone  com- 
bustion, like  fat,  or  starch,  or  sugar,  and  so  given 
heat  to  the  body.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  now  known 
and  admitted  by  the  medical  profession  that 

ALCOHOL  REDUCES  THE  TEMPERATURE  OF  THE  BODY, 

instead  of  increasing  it ;  and  it  has  even  been  used 
in  fevers  as  an  anti-pyretic.  So  uniform  has  been 
the  testimony  of  physicians  in  Europe  and  this 
country  as  to  the  cooling  effects  of  alcohol,  that  Dr. 
Wood  says,  in  his  Materia  Medica,  "  that  it  does  not 
seem  worth  while  to  occupy  space  with  a  discussion 
of  the  subject."  Liebermeister,  one  of  the  most 
learned  contributors  to  Zeimssen's  Cyclopaedia  of 
the  Practice  of  Medicine,  1875,  says :  "  I  long  since 
convinced  myself,  by  direct  experiments,  that  alco- 
hol, even  in  comparatively  large  doses,  does  not 
elevate  the  temperature  of  the  body  in  either  well 
or  sick  people."  So  well  had  this  become  known 
to  Arctic  voyagers,  that,  even  before  physiologists 
had  demonstrated  the  fact  that  alcohol  reduced,  in- 
stead of  increasing,  the  temperature  of  the  body, 
they  had  learned  that  spirits  lessened  their  power  to 
withstand  extreme  cold.  "  In  the  Northern  regions  " 

O  ' 

says  Edward  Smith,  "  it  was  proved  that  the  entire 
exclusion  of  spirits  was  necessary,  in  order  to  retain 
heat  under  these  unfavorable  conditions." 


92  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

ALCOHOL  DOES  NOT  GIVE  STRENGTH. 

If  alcohol  does  not  contain  tissue-building  mate- 
rial, nor  give  heat  to  the  body,  it  cannot  possibly 
add  to  its  strength.  "  Every  kind  of  power  an 
animal  can  generate,"  says  Dr.  G.  Budd,  F.  R.  S., 
"  the  mechanical  power  of  the  muscles,  the  chemical 
(or  digestive)  power  of  the  stomach,  the  intellectual 
power  of  the  brain — accumulates  through  the  nutri- 
tion of  the  organ  on  which  it  depends.'  Dr.  F. 
K.  Lees,  of  Edinburgh,  after  discussing  the  question, 
and  educing  evidence,  remarks :  "  From  the  very 
nature  of  things,  it  will  now  be  seen  how  impossible 
it  is  that  alcohol  can  be  strengthening  food  of  either 
kind.  Since  it  cannot  become  a  part  of  the  body,  it 
cannot  consequently  contribute  to  its  cohesive,  or- 
ganic strength,  or  fixed  power ;  and,  since  it  comes 
out  of  the  body  just  as  it  went  in,  it  cannot,  by  its 
decomposition,  generate  Am^-force." 

Sir  Benjamin  Brodie  says :  "  Stimulants  do  not 
create  nervous  power ;  they  merely  enable  you,  as  it 
were,  to  use  up  that  which  is  left,  and  then  they 
leave  you  more  in  need  of  rest  than  before." 

Baron  Liebig,  so  far  back  as  1843,  in  his  "Animal 
Chemistry,"  pointed  out  the  fallacy  of  alcohol  gener- 
ating power.  He  says :  "  The  circulation  will  appear 
accelerated  at  the  expense  of  the  force  available  for 
voluntary  motion,  but  without  the  production  of  a 
greater  amount  of  mechanical  force."  In  his  later 
"  Letters,"  he  again  says :  "  Wine  is  quite  super- 
fluous to  man,  *  *  *  it  is  constantly  followed  by 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £3 

the  expenditure  of  power" — whereas,  the  real  func- 
tion of  food  is  to  give  power.  He  adds :  "  These 
drinks  promote  the  change  of  matter  in  the  body, 
an$  are,  consequently,  attended  by  an  inward  loss 
of  power,  which  ceases  to  be  productive,  because  it 
is  not  employed  in  overcoming  outward  difficulties — 
i.  e.,  in  working."  In  other  words,  this  great 
chemist  asserts  that  alcohol  abstracts  the  power  of 
the  system  from,  doing  useful  work  in  the  field  or 
workshop,  in  order  to  cleanse  the  house  from  the 
defilement  of  alcohol  itself. 

The  late  Dr.  W.  Brinton,  Physician  to  St. 
Thomas',  in  his  great  work  on  Dietetics,  says : 
"  Careful  observation  leaves  little  doubt  that  a 
moderate  dose  of  beer  or  wine  would,  in  most  cases, 
at  once  diminish  the  maximum  weight  which  a 
healthy  person  could  lift.  Mental  acuteness,  accu- 
racy of  perception  and  delicacy  of  the  senses  are  all 
so  far  opposed  by  alcohol,  as  that  the  maximum 
efforts  of  each  are  incompatible  with  the  ingestion 
of  any  moderate  quantity  of  fermented  liquid.  A 
single  glass  will  often  suffice  to  take  the  edge  off 
both  mind  and  body,  and  to  reduce  their  capacity 
to  something  below  their  perfection  of  work." 

Dr.  F.  II.  Lees,  F.  S.  A.,  writing  on  the  subject 
of  alcohol  as  a  food,  makes  the  following  quotation 
from  an  essay  on  "  Stimulating  Drinks,"  published 
by  Dr.  H.  R.  Madden,  as  long  ago  as  1847  :  "Alco- 
hol is  not  the  natural  stimulus  to  any  of  our  organs, 
and  hence,  functions  performed  in  consequence  of 


94  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

its  application,  tend  to  debilitate  the  organ  acted 
upon. 

"Alcohol  is  incapable  of  being  assimilated  or 
converted  into  any  organic  proximate  principle,  and 
hence,  cannot  be  considered  nutritious. 

"  The  strength  experienced  after  the  use  of  alco- 
hol is  not  new  strength  added  to  the  system,  but  is 
manifested  by  calling  into  exercise  the  nervous 
energy  pre-existing. 

"  The  ultimate  exhausting  effects  of  alcohol,  owing 
to  its  stimulant  properties,  produce  an  unnatural 
susceptibility  to  morbid  action  in  all  the  organs,  and 
this,  with  the  plethora  superinduced,  becomes  a  fer- 
tile source  of  disease. 

"A  person  who  habitually  exerts  himself  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  require  the  daily  use  of  stimulants 
to  ward  off  exhaustion,  may  be  compared  to  a  ma- 
chine working  under  high  pressure.  He  will  become 
much  more  obnoxious  to  the  causes  of  disease,  and 
will  certainly  break  down  sooner  than  he  would  have 
done  under  more  favorable  circumstances. 

"  The  more  frequently  alcohol  is  had  recourse  to 
for  the  purpose  of  overcoming  feelings  of  debility, 
the  more  it  will  be  required,  and  by  constant  repeti- 
tion a  period  is  at  length  reached  when  it  cannot  be 
foregone,  unless  reaction  is  simultaneously  brought 
about  by  a  temporary  total  change  of  the  habits  of  life. 

"  Owing  to  the  above  facts,  I  conclude  that  the 

DAILY  USE  OF  STIMULANTS  IS  INDEFENSIBLE  UNDER 
ANY  KNOWN  CIRCUMSTANCES." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  95 

DRIVEN  TO  THE  WALL. 

Not  finding  that  alcohol  possesses  any  direct  ali- 
mentary value,  the  medical  advocates  of  its  use  have 
been  driven  to  the  assumption  that  it  is  a  kind  of 
secondary  food,  in  that  it  has  the  power  to  delay  the 
metamorphosis  of  tissue  "  By  the  metamorphosis 
of  tissue  is  meant,"  says  Dr.  Hunt,  "  that  change 
which  is  constantly  going  on  in  the  system  which 
involves  a  constant  disintegration  of  material ;  a 
breaking  up  and  avoiding  of  that  which  is  no  longer 
aliment,  making  room  for  that  new  supply  which  is 
to  sustain  life."  Another  medical  writer,  in  refer- 
ring to  this  metamorphosis,  says  :  "  The  importance 
of  this  process  to  the  maintenance  of  life  is  readily 
shown  by  the  injurious  effects  which  follow  upon  its 
disturbance.  If  the  discharge  of  the  excrementi- 
tious  substances  be  in  any  way  impeded  or  suspended, 
these  substances  accumulate  either  in  the  blood  or 
tissues,  or  both.  In  consequence  of  this  retention 
and  accumulation  they  become  poisonous,  and  rap- 
idly produce  a  derangement  of  the  vital  functions. 
Their  influence  is  principally  exerted  upon  the 
nervous  system,  through  which  they  produce  most 
frequent  irritability,  disturbance  of  the  special  senses, 
delirium,  insensibility,  coma,  and  finally,  death." 

"This  description,"  remarks  Dr.  Hunt,  "seems 
almost  intended  for  alcohol."  He  then  says :  "  To 
claim  alcohol  as  a  food  because  it  delays  the  meta- 
morphosis of  tissue,  is  to  claim  that  it  in  some  way 
suspends  the  normal  conduct  of  the  laws  of  assimi- 


96  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

lation  and  nutrition,  of  waste  and  repair.  A  leading 
advocate  of  alcohol  (Hammond)  thus  illustrates  it : 
'Alcohol  retards  the  destruction  of  the  tissues.  By 
this  destruction,  force  is  generated,  muscles  contract, 
thoughts  are  developed,  organs  secrete  and  excrete.' 
In  other  words,  alcohol  interferes  with  all  these.  No 
wonder  the  author  *  is  not  clear '  how  it  does  this, 
and  we  are  not  clear  how  such  delayed  metamor- 
phosis recuperates.  To  take  an  agent  which  is 

NOT  KNOWN  TO  BE  IN  ANY  SENSE  AN  ORIGINATOR  OF 
VITAL  FORCE; 

which  is  not  known  to  have  any  of  the  usual  power 
of  foods,  and  use  it  on  the  double  assumption  that 
it  delays  metamorphosis  of  tissue,  and  that  such 
delay  is  conservative  of  health,  is  to  pass  outside  of 
the  bounds  of  science  into  the  land  of  remote  pos- 
sibilities, and  confer  the  title  of  adjuster  upon  an 
agent  whose  agency  is  itself  doubtful.  *  *  *  * 

"Having  failed  to  identify  alcohol  as  a  nitrogenous 
or  non-nitrogenous  food,  not  having  found  it  amen- 
able to  any  of  the  evidences  by  which  the  food-force 
of  aliments  is  generally  measured,  it  will  not  do  for 
us  to  talk  of  benefit  by  delay  of  regressive  meta- 
morphosis unless  such  process  is  accompanied  with 
something  evidential  of  the  fact — something  sci- 
entifically descriptive  of  its  mode  of  accomplishment 
in  the  case  at  hand,  and  unless  it  is  shown  to  be 
practically  desirable  for  alimentation. 

"  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  alcohol  does  cause 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £7 

defects  in  the  processes  of  elimination  which  are 
natural  to  the  healthy  body  and  which  even  in  dis- 
ease are  often  conservative  of  health.  In  the  pent- 
in  evils  which  pathology  so  often  shows  occurrent 
in  the  case  of  spirit-drinkers,  in  the  vascular,  fatty 
and  fibroid  degenerations  which  take  place,  in  the 
accumulations  of  rheumatic  and  scrofulous  tenden- 
cies, there  is  the  strongest  evidence  that 

ALCOHOL  ACTS  AS  A  DISTURBING  ELEMENT 

and  is  very  prone  to  initiate  serious  disturbances 
amid  the  normal  conduct  both  of  organ  and  func- 
tion. 

"  To  assert  that  this  interference  is  conservative 
in  the  midst  of  such  a  fearful  accumulation  of  evi- 
dence as  to  result  in  quite  the  other  direction,  and 
that  this  kind  of  delay  in  tissue-change  accumulates 
vital  force,  is  as  unscientific  as  it  is  paradoxical. 

"  Dickinson,  in  his  able  expose  of  the  effects  of 
alcohol,  (Lancet,  Nov.,  1872,)  confines  himself  to 
pathological  facts.  After  recounting,  with  accuracy, 
the  structural  changes  which  it  initiates,  and  the 
structural  changes  and  consequent  derangement  and 
suspension  of  vital  functions  which  it  involves,  he 
aptly  terms  it  the  '  genius  of  degeneration.' 

"  With  abundant  provision  of  indisputable  foods, 
select  that  liquid  which  has  failed  to  command  the 
general  assent  of  experts  that  it  is  a  food  at  all,  and 
because  it  is  claimed  to  diminish  some  of  the  excre- 
tions, call  that  a  delay  of  metamorphosis  of  tissue 


98  GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

conservative  of  health  !  The  ostrich  may  bury  hia 
head  in  the  sand,  but  science  will  not  close  its  eyes 
before  such  impalpable  dust." 

Speaking  of  this  desperate  effort  to  claim  alcohol 
as  a  food,  Dr.  N.  S.  Davis  well  says :  "  It  seems 
hardly  possible  that  men  of  eminent  attainments  in 
the  profession  should  so  far  forget  one  of  the  most 
fundamental  and  universally  recognized  laws  of  or- 
ganic life  as  to  promulgate  the  fallacy  here  stated. 
The  fundamental  law  to  which  we  allude  is,  that  all 
vital  phenomena  are  accompanied  by,  and  dependent 
on,  molecular  or  atomic  changes ;  and  whatever 
retards  these  retards  the  phenomena  of  life ;  what- 
ever suspends  these  suspends  life.  Hence,  to  say 
that  an  agent  which  retards  tissue  metamorphosis  is 
in  any  sense  a  food,  is  simply  to  pervert  and  mis- 
apply terms." 

Well  may  the  author  of  the  paper  from  which 
we  have  quoted  so  freely,  exclaim :  "  Strangest  ol 
foods !  most  impalpable  of  aliments !  defying  all  the 
research  of  animal  chemistry,  tasking  all  the  in- 
genuity of  experts  in  hypothetical  explanations, 
registering  its  effects  chiefly  by  functional  disturb- 
ance and  organic  lesions,  causing  its  very  defenders 
as  a  food  to  stultify  themselves  when  in  fealty  to 
facts  they  are  compelled  to  disclose  its  destructions, 
and  to  find  the  only  defense  in  that  line  of  demar- 
cation, more  imaginary  than  the  equator,  more 
delusive  than  the  mirage,  between  use  and  abuse." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.         99 

That  alcohol  is  not  a  food  in  any  sense,  has  been 
fully  shown ;  and  now, 

WHAT  IS  ITS  VALUE  AS  A  MEDICINE? 

Our  reply  to  this  question  will  be  brief.  The  reader 
has,  already,  the  declaration  of  the  International 
Medical  Congress,  that,  as  a  medicine,  the  range  of 
alcohol  is  limited  and  doubtful,  and  that  its  self- 
prescription  by  the  laity  should  be  utterly  discoun- 
tenanced by  the  profession.  No  physician  who  has 
made  himself  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  effects 
of  alcohol  when  introduced  into  the  blood  and 
brought  in  contact  with  the  membranes,  nerves  and 
organs  of  the  human  body,  would  now  venture  to 
prescribe  its  free  use  to  consumptives  as  was  done 
a  very  few  years  ago. 

"  In  the  whole  management  of  lung  diseases," 
remarks  Dr.  Hunt,  "  with  the  exception  of  the  few 
who  can  always  be  relied  upon  to  befriend  alcohol, 
other  remedies  have  largely  superseded  all  spirituous 
liquors.  Its  employment  in  stomach  disease,  once 
so  popular,  gets  no  encouragement,  from  a  careful 
examination  of  its  local  and  constitutional  effects, 
as  separated  from  the  water,  sugar  and  acids  imbibed 
with  it." 

TYPHOID  FEVER. 

It  is  in  typhoid  fever  that  alcohol  has  been  used, 
perhaps,  most  frequently  by  the  profession ;  but  this 
use  is  now  restricted,  and  the  administration  made 
with  great  caution.  Prof.  A.  L.  Loomis,  of  New 


300          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

York  City,  has  published  several  lectures  en  the 
pathology  and  treatment  of  typhoid  fever.  Refer- 
ring thereto,  Dr.  Hunt  says:  "No  one  in  our  country 
can  speak  more  authoritatively,  and  as  he  has  no 
radical  views  as  to  the  exclusion  of  alcohol,  it  is  worth 
while  to  notice  the  place  to  which  he  assigns  it.  In 
the  milder  cases  he  entirely  excludes  it.  As  a 
means  of  reducing  temperature,  he  does  not  mention 
it,  but  relies  on  cold,  quinine,  and  sometimes,  digi- 
talis and  quinine."  When,  about  the  third  week, 
signs  of  failure  of  heart-power  begin  to  manifest 
themselves,  and  the  use  of  some  form  of  stimulant 
seems  to  be  indicated,  Dr.  Loomis  gives  the  most 
guarded  advice  as  to  their  employment.  "  Never," 
he  says,  "  give  a  patient  stimulants  simply  because 
he  has  typhoid  fever."  And  again,  "  Where  there 
is  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  giving  or 
withholding  stimulants,  it  is  safer  to  withhold  them." 
He  then  insists  that,  if  stimulants  are  administered, 
the  patient  should  be  visited  every  two  hours  to 
watch  their  effects. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  how  guarded  has  now  become 
the  use  of  alcohol  as  a  cardiac  stimulant  in  typhoid 
fevers,  where  it  was  once  employed  with  an  almost 
reckless  freedom.  Many  practitioners  have  come  to 
exclude  it  altogether,  and  to  rely  wholly  on  ammo- 
nia, ether  and  foods. 

In  Cameron's  "Hygiene"  is  this  sentence :  "In 
candor,  it  must  be  admitted  that  many  eminent 
physicians  deny  the  efficacy  of  alcohol  in  the  treat- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUKE. 

ment  of  any  kind  of  disease,  and  some  assert  that  it 
is  worse  than  useless" 

ACCUMULATIVE  TESTIMONY. 

Dr.  Arnold  Lees,  F.  L.  S.,  in  a  recent  paper  on 
the  "  Use  and  Action  of  Alcohol  in  Disease,"  as- 
sumes "  that  the  old  use  of  alcohol  was  not  science, 
hut  a  grave  blunder"  Prof.  C.  A.  Parks  says  :  "  It 
is  impossible  not  to  feel  that,  so  far,  the  progress  of 
physiological  inquiry  renders  the  use  of  alcohol 
(in  medicine)  more  and  more  doubtful."  Dr.  Anstie 
says :  "  If  alcohol  is  to  be  administered  at  all  for  the 
relief  of  neuralgia,  it  should  be  given  with  as  much 
precision,  as  to  dose,  as  we  should  use  in  giving  an 
acknowledged  deadly  poison."  Dr.  F.  T.  Koberts, 
an  eminent  English  physician,  in  advocating  a 
guarded  use  of  alcohol  in  typhoid  fever,  says : 
"Alcoholic  stimulants  are,  by  no  means,  always  re- 
quired, and  their  indiscriminate  use  may  do  a  great 
deal  of  harm."  In  Asiatic  cholera,  brandy  was 
formerly  administered  freely  to  patients  when  in 
the  stage  of  collapse.  The  effect  was  injurious, 
instead  of  beneficial.  "Again  and  again,"  says 
Prof.  G.  Johnson,  "have  I  seen  a  patient  grow 
colder,  and  his  pulse  diminish  in  volume  and  power, 
after  a  dose  of  brandy,  and,  apparently,  as  a  direct 
result  of  the  brandy."  And  Dr.  Pidduck,  of  Lon- 
don, who  used  common  salt  in  cholera  treatment, 
says :  "  Of  eighty-six  cases  in  the  stage  of  collapse, 
sixteen  only  proved  fatal,  and  scarcely  one  would 


102          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

have  died,  if  I  had  been  able  to  prevent  them  from 
taking  brandy  and  laudanum"  Dr.  Collenette,  of 
Guernsey,  says :  "For  more  than  thirty  years  I  have 
abandoned  the  use  of  all  kinds  of  alcoholic  drinks 
in  my  practice,  and  with  such  good  results,  that, 
were  I  sick,  nothing  would  induce  me  to  have  re- 
source to  them  — they  are  but  noxious  depressants" 

As  a  non-professional  writer,  we  cannot  go  be- 
yond the  medical  testimony  which  has  been  educed, 
and  we  now  leave  it  with  the  reader.  We  could 
add  many  pages  to  this  testimony,  but  such  cumu- 
lative evidence  would  add  but  little  to  its  force  with 
the  reader.  If  he  is  not  yet  convinced  that  alcohol 
has  no  food  value,  and  that,  as  a  medicine,  its  range 
is  exceedingly  limited,  and  always  of  doubtful  ad- 
ministration, nothing  further  that  we  might  be  able 
to  cite  or  say  could  have  any  influence  with  him. 


o 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  GEOWTH  AND  POWER  OF  APPETITE. 

NE  fact  attendant  on  habitual  drinking  stands 
out  so  prominently  that  none  can  call  it  in 
question.  It  is  that  of  the  steady  growth  of  appe- 
tite. There  are  exceptions,  as  in  the  action  of  nearly 
every  rule ;  but  the  almost  invariable  result  of  the 
habit  we  have  mentioned,  is,  as  we  have  said,  a 
steady  growth  of  appetite  for  the  stimulant  imbibed. 
That  this  is  in  consequence  of  certain  morbid 
changes  in  the  physical  condition  produced  by  the 
alcohol  itself,  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  one 
who  has  made  himself  acquainted  with  the  various 
functional  and  organic  derangements  which  invaria- 
bly follow  the  continued  introduction  of  this  sub- 
stance into  the  body. 

But  it  is  to  the  fact  itself,  not  to  its  cause,  that  we 
now  wish  to  direct  the  reader's  attention.  The  man 
who  is  satisfied  at  first  with  a  single  glass  of  wine 
at  dinner,  finds,  after  awhile,  that  appetite  asks  for 
a  little  more ;  and,  in  time,  a  second  glass  is  con- 
ceded. The  increase  of  desire  may  be  very  slow, 
but  it  goes  on  surely  until,  in  the  end,  a  whole 
bottle  will  scarcely  suffice,  with  far  too  many,  to 
meet  its  imperious  demands.  It  is  the  same  in 


104          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

regard  to  the  use  of  every  other  form  of  alcoholic 
drink. 

Now,  there  are  men  so  constituted  that  they  are 
able,  for  a  long  series  of  years,  or  even  for  a 
whole  lifetime,  to  hold  this  appetite  within  a  certain 
limit  of  indulgence.  To  say  "So  far,  and  no  far- 
ther." They  suffer  ultimately  from  physical  ail- 
ments, which  surely  follow  the  prolonged  contact  of 
alcoholic  poison  with  the  delicate  structures  of 
the  body,  many  of  a  painful  character,  and  shorten 
the  term  of  their  natural  lives ;  but  still  they  are 
able  to  drink  without  an  increase  of  appetite  so 
great  as  to  reach  an  overmastering  degree.  They 
do  not  become  abandoned  drunkards. 

NO  MAN  SAFE  WHO  DRINKS. 

But  no  man  who  begins  the  use  of  alcohol  in  any 
form  can  tell  what,  in  the  end,  is  going  to  be  its 
effect  on  his  body  or  mind.  Thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands,  once  wholly  unconscious  of  danger  from 
this  source,  go  down  yearly  into  drunkards'  graves. 
There  is  no  standard  by  which  any  one  can  measure 
the  latent  evil  forces  in  his  inherited  nature.  He 
may  have  from  ancestors,  near  or  remote,  an  un- 
healthy moral  tendency,  or  physical  diathesis,  to 
which  the  peculiarly  disturbing  influence  of  alcohol 
will  give  the  morbid  condition  in  which  it  will  find 
its  disastrous  life.  That  such  results  follow  the  use 
of  alcohol  in  a  large  number  of  cases,  is  now  a  well- 
known  fact  in  the  history  of  inebriation.  During 


THE  CURSE  AND   THE  CURE. 

the  past  few  years,  tlie  subject  of  alcoholism,  with 
the  mental  and  moral  causes  leading  thereto,  have 
attracted  a.  great  deal  of  earnest  attention.  Physi- 
cians, superintendents  of  inebriate  and  lunatic  asy- 
lums, prison-keepers,  legislators  and  philanthropists 
nave  been  observing  and  studying  its  many  sad  and 
terrible  phases,  and  recording  results  and  opinions. 
While  differences  are  held  on  some  points,  as,  for 
instance,  whether  drunkenness  is  a  disease  for  which, 
after  it  has  been  established,  the  individual  ceases 
to  be  responsible,  and  should  be  subject  to  restraint 
and  treatment,  as  for  lunacy  or  fever ;  a  crime  to  be 
punished ;  or  a  sin  to  be  repented  of  and  healed 
by  the  Physician  of  souls,  all  agree  that  there  is 
an  inherited  or  acquired  mental  and  nervous  condi- 
tion with  many,  which  renders  any  use  of  alcohol 
exceedingly  dangerous. 

The  point  we  wish  to  make  with  the  reader  is, 
that  no  man  can  possibly  know,  until  he  has  used 
alcoholic  drinks  for  a  certain  period  of  time,  whether 
he  has  or  has  not  this  hereditary  or  acquired  physi- 
cal or  mental  condition ;  and  that,  if  it  should  exist, 
a  discovery  of  the  fact  may  come  too  late. 

Dr.  D.  G.  Dodge,  late  Superintendent  of  the 
New  York  State  Inebriate  Asylum,  speaking  of  the 
causes  leading  to  intemperance,  after  stating  his 
belief  that  it  is  a  transmissible  disease,  like  "scrofula, 
gout  or  consumption,"  says : 

"There  are  men  who  have  an  organization,  which 
may  be  termed  an  alcoholic  idiosyncrasy  ;  with  them 


106         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

the  latent  desire  for  stimulants,  if  indulged,  soon  leads 
to  habits  of  intemperance,  and  eventually  to  a  morbid 
appetite,  which  has  all  the  characteristics  of  a  dis- 
eased condition  of  the  system,  which  the  patient, 
unassisted,  is  powerless  to  relieve — since  the  weak- 
ness of  the  will  that  led  to  the  disease  obstructs  its 
removal. 

"Again,  we  find  in  another  class  of  persons,  those 
who  have  had  healthy  parents,  and  have  been 
educated  and  accustomed  to  good  social  influences, 
moral  and  social,  but  whose  temperament  and 
physical  constitution  are  such,  that,  when  they 
once  indulge  in  the  use  of  stimulants,  which  they 
find  pleasurable,  they  continue  to  habitually  indulge 
till  they  cease  to  be  moderate,  and  become  excessive 
drinkers.  A  depraved  appetite  is  established,  that 
leads  them  on  slowly,  but  surely,  to  destruction." 

A  DANGEROUS  DELUSION. 

In  this  chapter,  our  chief  purpose  is  to  show  the 
growth  and  awful  power  of  an  appetite  which  begins 
striving  for  the  mastery  the  moment  it  is  indulged, 
and  against  the  encroachments  of  which  no  man 
who  gives  it  any  indulgence  is  absolutely  safe.  lie 
who  so  regards  himself  is  resting  in  a  most  danger- 
ous delusion.  So  graduallv  does  it  increase,  that  few 

O  •/ 

o'bserve  its  steady  accessions  of  strength  until  it  has 
acquired  the  power  of  a  master.  Dr.  George  M. 
Burr,  in  a  paper  on  the  pathology  of  drunkenness, 
read  before  the  "American  Association  for  the  Cure 


THE  CUESE  AND  THE  CURE.  107 

of  Inebriates,"  says,  in  referring  to  the  first  indica- 
tions of  an  appetite,  which  he  considers  one  of  the 
symptoms  of  a  forming  disease,  says :  "  This  early 
stage  is  marked  by  an  occasional  desire  to  drink, 
which  recurs  at  shorter  and  shorter  intervals,  and  a 
propensity,  likewise,  gradually  increasing  for  a 
greater  quantity  at  each  time.  This  stage  has  long 
been  believed  to  he  one  of  voluntary  indulgence, 
for  which  the  subject  of  it  was  morally  responsible. 
The  drinker  has  been  held  as  criminal  for  his  occa- 
sional indulgence,  and  his  example  has  been  most 
severely  censured.  This  habit,  however,  must  be 
regarded  as  the  first  intimation  of  the  approaching 
disease — the  stage  of  invasion,  precisely  as  sensa- 
tions of  mal-aise  and  chills  usher  in  a  febrile  attack. 
"  It  is  by  no  means  claimed  that  in  this  stage  the 
subject  is  free  from  responsibility  as  regards  the 
consequences  of  his  acts,  or  that  his  case  is  to  be 
looked  upon  as  beyond  all  attempts  at  reclamation. 
Quite  to  the  contrary.  This  is  the  stage  for  active 
interference.  Restraint,  prohibition,  quarantine, 
anything  may  be  resorted  to,  to  arrest  the  farther 
advance  of  the  disease.  Instead  of  being  taught 
that  the  habit  of  occasional  drinking  is  merely  a 
moral  lapsus  (not  the  most  powerful  restraining 
motive  always),  the  subject  of  it  should  be  made  to 
understand  that  it  is  the  commencement  of  a  malady, 
which,  if  unchecked,  will  overwhelm  him  in  ruin, 
and,  compared  with  which,  cholera  and  yellow  fever 
are  harmless.  He  should  be  impressed  with  the 


108         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

fact  that  the  early  stage  is  the  one  when  recupera 
tion  is  most  easy — that  the  will  then  has  not  lost 
its  power  of  control,  and  that  the  fatal  propensity 
is  not  incurable.  The  duty  of  prevention,  or  avoid- 
ance, should  be  enforced  with  as  much  earnestness 
and  vigor  as  we  are  required  to  carry  out  sanitary 
measures  against  the  spread  of  small-pox  or  any 
infectious  disease.  The  subject  of  inebriety  may  be 
justly  held  responsible,  if  he  neglects  all  such  efforts, 
and  allows  the  disease  to  progress  without  a  struggle 
to  arrest  it. 

"  The  formative  stage  of  inebriety  continues  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  period,  when,  as  is  well  known, 
more  frequent  repetitions  of  the  practice  of  drink- 
ing are  to  be  observed.  The  impulse  to  drink 
grows  stronger  arid  stronger,  the  will-power  is  over- 
thrown and  the  entire  organism  becomes  subject  to 
the  fearful  demands  for  stimulus.  It  is  now  that 
the  stas;e  of  confirmed  inebriation  is  formed,  and 
dypso-mania  fully  established.  The  constant  in- 
troduction of  alcohol  into  the  system,  circulating 
with  the  fluids  and  permeating  the  tissues,  adds 
fuel  to  the  already  enkindled  flame,  and  intensifies 
the  propensity  to  an  irresistible  degree.  Nothing 
now  satisfies  short  of  complete  intoxication,  and, 
until  the  unhappy  subject  of  the  disease  falls  sense- 
less and  completely  overcome,  will  he  cease  his 
efforts  to  gratify  this  most  insatiable  desire." 

Dr.  Alexander  Peddie,  of  Edinburgh,  who  has 
given  twenty  years  of  study  to  this  subject,  remarked, 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

in  his  testimony  before  a  Committee  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  that  there  seemed  to  be  "  a  peculiar 
elective  affinity  for  the  action  of  alcohol  on  the 
nervous  system  after  it  had  found  its  way  through 
the  circulation  into  the  brain,"  by  which  the  whole 
organism  was  disturbed,  and  the  man  rendered  less 
able  to  resist  morbid  influences  of  any  kind.  He 
gave  many  striking  instances  of  the  growth  and 
power  of  appetite,  which  had  come  under  his  pro- 
fessional notice,  and  of  the  ingenious  devices  and 
desperate  resorts  to  which  dypsomaniacs  were  driven 
in  their  efforts  to  satisfy  their  inordinate  cravings. 
No  consideration,  temporal  or  spiritual,  had  any 
power  to  restrain  their  appetite,  if,  by  ,any  means, 
fair  or  foul,  they  could  obtain  alcoholic  stimulants. 
To  get  this,  he  said,  the  unhappy  subject  of  this 
terrible  thirst  "  will  tell  the  most  shameful  lies — for 
no  truth  is  ever  found  m  connection  with  the 
habitual  drunkard's  state.  He  never  yet  saw  truth 
in  relation  to  drink  got  out  of  one  who  was  a  dyso- 
maniac — he  has  sufficient  reason  left  to  tell  these 
untruths,  and  to  understand  his  position,  because 
people  in  that  condition  are  seldom  dead  drunk ; 
they  are  seldom  in  the  condition  of  total  stupidity ; 
they  have  generally  an  eye  open  to  their  own  affairs, 
and  that  which  is  the  main  business  of  their  exist- 
ence, namely,  how  to  get  drink.  They  will  resort 
to  the  most  ingenious,  mean  and  degrading  con- 
trivances and  practices  to  procure  and  conceal 
liquor,  and  this,  too,  while  closely  watched;  and 


110         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

will  succeed  in  deception,  although  fabulous  quan- 
tities are  daily  swallowed." 

Dr.  John  Nugent  gives  a  case  which  came  within 
his  own  knowledge,  of  a  lady  who  had  been 

A  MOST  EXEMPLARY  NUN 

for  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  In  consequence  of  her 
devotion  to  the  poor,  attending  them  in  fevers,  and 
like  cases,  it  seemed  necessary  for  her  to  take  stimu- 
lants ;  these  stimulants  grew  to  be  habitual,  and  she 
had  been  compelled,  five  or  six  times,  to  place  her- 
self in  a  private  asylum.  In  three  or  four  weeks 
after  being  let  out,  she  would  relapse,  although  she 
was  believed  to  be  under  the  strongest  influences  of 
religion,  and  of  the  most  virtuous  desires.  There  had 
been  developed  in  her  that  disposition  to  drink 
which  she  was  unable  to  overcome  or  control. 

The  power  of  this  appetite,  and  the  frightful 
moral  perversions  that  often  follow  ite  indulgence 
are  vividly  portrayed  in  the  following  extract,  from 
an  address  by  Dr.  Elisha  Harris,  of  New  York,  in 
which  he  discusses  the  question  of  the  criminality  of 
drunkenness. 

"  Let  the  fact  be  noticed  that  such  is  the  lethargy 
which  alcoholism  produces  upon  reason  and  con- 
science, that  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  bring  the 
offender  to  view  his  drunken  indulgence  as  a  crime. 
We  have  known  a  refined  and  influential  citizen  to 
be  so  startled  at  the  fact  that  he  wished  to  destroy 
the  lives*  of  all  persons,  even  of  his  own  family,  who 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  HI 

manifested  unhappiness  at  his  intemperance,  that 
seeing  this  terrible  criminality  of  his  indulgence, 
instantly  formed,  and  has  forever  kept,  his  resolu- 
tions of  abstinence.  We  have  known  the  hereditary 
dypsomaniac  break  from  his  destroyer,  and  when 
tempted  in  secret  by  the  monstrous  appetite,  so 
grind  his  teeth  and  clinch  his  jaws  in  keeping  his 
vows  to  taste  not,  that  blood  dripped  from  his  mouth 
and  cold  sweat  bathed  his  face.  That  man  is  a 
model  of  temperance  and  moral  power  to-day.  And 
it  was  the  consciousness  of  personal  criminality  that 
stimulated  these  successful  conflicts  with  the  morbid 
appetite  and  the  powers  of  the  alcohol  disease  that 
had  fastened  upon  them.  Shall  we  hesitate  to  hold 
ourselves,  or  to  demand  that  communities  shall  hold 
every  drunkard — not  yet  insane — responsible  for 
every  act  of  inebriety  ?  Certainly,  it  is  not  cruel  or 
unjust  to  deal  thus  with  drunkenness.  It  is  not  the 
prison  we  open,  but  conscience." 

The  danger  in  which  those  stand  who  have  an 

INHERITED  PREDISPOSITION  TO  DRINK, 

is  very  great.  Rev.  I.  \Villett,  Superintendent  of 
the  Inebriate's  Home,  Fort  Hamilton,  Kings  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  thus  refers  to  this  class,  which  is 
larger  than  many  think :  "  There  are  a  host  of 
living  men  and  women  to  be  found  who  never 
drank,  and  who  dare  not  drink,  intoxicating  liquors 
or  beverages,  because  one  or  both  of  their  parents 
were  inebriates  before  they  were  born  into  the 


112         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

worH;  w.cl,  besides,  a  number  of  these  have 
brothers  or  sisters  who,  having  given  way  to  the 
inherited  appetite,  are  now  passing  downward  on 
this  des^e^ding  sliding  scale.  The  greater  portion 
of  them  have  already  passed  over  the  bounds  of 
self-control,  and  the  varied  preliminary  symptoms 
of  melancholy,  mania,  paralysis,  ideas  of  persecu- 
tion, etc.,  etc.,  are  developing.  As  to  the  question 
of  responsibility,  each  case  is  either  more  or  less 
doubtful,  and  can  only  be  tested  on  its  separate 
merits.  There  is,  however,  abundant  evidence  to 
prove  that  this  predisposition  to  inebriety,  even 
after  long  indulgence,  can,  by  a  skillful  process  of 
medication,  accompanied  by  either  voluntary  or 
compulsory  restraint,  be  subdued ;  and  the  coun- 
terbalancing physical  and  mental  powers  can  at 
the  same  time  be  so  strengthened  and  invigorated 
as  in  the  future  to  enable  the  person  to  resist  the 
temptations  by  which  he  may  be  surrounded.  Yea, 
though  the  powers  of  reason  may,  for  the  time  be- 
ing, be  dethroned,  and  lunacy  be  developed,  these 
cases,  in  most  instances,  will  yield  to  medical  treat- 
ment where  the  surrounding  conditions  of  restraint 
and  careful  nursing  are  supplemental. 

"  We  have  observed  that  in  many  instances  the 
fact  of  the  patient  being  convinced  that  he  is  an 
hereditary  inebriate,  has  produced  beneficial  results. 
Summoning  to  his  aid  all  the  latent  counterbalanc- 
ing energies  which  he  has  at  command,  and  cloth- 
ing himself  with  this  armor,  he  goes  forth  to  war, 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  H3 

throws  up  the  fortifications  of  physical  and  mental 
restraint,  repairs  the  breaches  and  inroads  of  dis- 
eased appetite,  regains  control  of  the  citadel  of  the 
brain,  and  then,  with  shouts  of  triumph,  he  unfurls 
the  banner  of  '  VICTORY  !' ' 

Dr.  Wood,  of  London,  in  his  work  on  insanity, 
speaking  on  the  subject  of  hereditary  inebriety, 
says: 

"  Instances  are  sufficiently  familiar,  and  several 
have  occurred  within  my  own  personal  knowledge, 
where  the  father,  having  died  at  any  early  age  from 
'lie  effects  of  intemperance,  has  left  a  son  to  be 
brought  up  by  those  who  have  severely  suffered 
from  his  excesses,  and  have  therefore  the  strongest 
motives  to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  repetition  of  such 
misery ;  every  pains  has  been  taken  to  enforce 
sobriety,  and  yet,  notwithstanding  all  precautions, 
the  habits  of  the  father  have  become  those  of  the 
son,  who,  never  having  seen  him  from  infancy, 
could  not  have  adopted  them  from  imitation. 
Everything  was  done  to  encourage  habits  of  tem- 
perance, but  all  to  no  purpose;  the  seeds  of  the 
disease  had  begun  to  germinate;  a  blind  impulse 
led  the  doomed  individual,  by  successive  and  rapid 
strides,  along  the  same  course  which  was  fatal  to  the 
father,  and  which,  ere  long,  terminated  in  his  own 
destruction." 

How  great  and  fearful  the  power  of  an  appetite 
which  cannot  only  enslave  and  curse  the  man  over 
which  it  gains  control,  but  send  its  malign  influence 


114          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

down  to  the  second  and  third  and  fourth  genera* 
tions,  sometimes  to  the  absolute 

EXTINGUISHMENT  OF  FAMILIES! 

Morel,  a  Frenchman,  gives  the  following  as  the 
result  of  his  observation  of  the  hereditary  effects  of 
drunkenness : 

"First  generation:  Immorality,  depravity,  ex- 
cess in  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors,  moral  debase- 
ment. Second  generation :  Hereditary  drunkenness, 
paroxysms  of  mania,  general  paralysis.  Third 
generation:  Sobriety, hypochondria,  melancholy, sys- 
tematic ideas  of  being  persecuted,  homicidal  tend- 
encies.' Fourth  generation :  Intelligence  slightly 
developed,  first  accessions  of  mania  at  sixteen  years 
of  age,  stupidity,  subsequent  idiocy  and  probable 
extinction  of  family." 

Dr.  T.  D.  Crothers,  in  an  analysis  of  the  hundred 
cases  of  inebriety  received  at  the  New  York  Ine- 
briate Asylum,  gives  this  result :  "  Inebriety  inher- 
ited direct  from  parents  was  traced  in  twenty-one 
cases.  In  eleven  of  these  the  father  drank  alone, 
in  six  instances  the  mother  drank,  and  in  four  cases 
both  parents  drank. 

"  In  thirty-three  cases  inebriety  was  traced  to 
ancestors  more  remote,  as  grandfather,  grandmother, 
etc.,  etc.,  the  collateral  branches  exhibiting  both 
inebriety  and  insanity.  In  some  instances  a  whole 
generation  had  been  passed  over,  and  the  disorders 
of  the  grandparents  appeared  again. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  115 

"  In  twenty  cases  various  neurosal  disorders  had 
buen  prominent  in  the  family  and  its  branches,  of 
which  neuralgia,  chorea,  hysteria,  eccentricity,  ma- 
nia, epilepsy  and  inebriety,  were  most  common. 

"  In  some  cases,  a  wonderful  periodicity  in  the 
outbreak  of  these  disorders  was  manifested. 

"  For  instance,  in  one  family,  for  two  generations, 
inebriety  appeared  in  seven  out  of  twelve  members, 
after  they  had  passed  forty,  and  ended  fatally  within 
ten  years.  In  another,  hysteria,  chorea,  epilepsy 
and  mania,  with  drunkenness,  came  on  soon  after 
puberty,  and  seemed  to  deflect  to  other  disorders,  or 
exhaust  itself  before  middle  life.  This  occurred  in 
eight  out  of  fourteen,  extending  over  two  genera- 
tions. In  another  instance,  the  descendants  of  three 
generations,  and  many  of  the  collateral  branches, 
developed  inebriety,  mental  eccentricities,  with  other 
disorders  bordering  on  mania,  at  about  thirty-five 
years  of  age.  In  some  cases  this  lasted  only  a  few 
years,  in  others  a  lifetime." 

And  here  let  us  say  that  in  this  matter  of  an  in- 
herited appetite  there  is  a  difference  of  views  with 
some  who  believe  that  appetite  is  never  transmitted 
but  always  acquired.  This  difference  of  view  is 
more  apparent  than  real.  It  is  not  the  drunkard's 
appetite  that  is  transmitted,  but  the  bias  or  proclivity 
which  renders  the  subject  of  such  an  inherited  tend- 
ency more  susceptible  to  exciting  causes,  and  there-' 
fore  in  greater  danger  from  the  use  of  alcoholic 
drinks  than  others. 


116         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

Dr.  N.  S.  Davis,  in  an  article  in  the  Washing- 
tonian,  published  at  Chicago,  presents  the  opposite 
view  of  the  case.  The  following  extract  from 
this  article  is  well  worthy  to  be  read  and  con- 
sidered : 

"  If  we  should  say  that  man  is  so  constituted  that 
he  is  capable  of  feeling  weary,  restless,  despondent 
and  anxious,  and  that  he  instinctively  desires  to  be 
relieved  of  these  unpleasant  feelings,  we  should  as- 
sert a  self-evident  fact.  And  we  should  thereby 
assert  all  the  instincts  or  natural  impulse  there  is  in 
the  matter.  It  is  simply  a  desire  to  be  relieved 
from  unpleasant  feelings,  and  does  not,  in  the  slight- 
est degree,  indicate  or  suggest  any  particul;  r  remedy. 
It  no  more  actually  suggests  the  idea  of  alcohol  or 
opium  than  it  does  bread  and  water.  But  if,  by 
accident,  or  by  the  experience  of  others,  the  indi- 
vidual has  learned  that  his  unpleasant  feelings  can 
be  relieved,  for  the  time  being,  by  alcohol,  opium  or 
any  other  exhilarant,  he  not  only  uses  the  remedy 
himself,  but  perpetuates  a  knowledge  of  the  same 
to  others.  It  is  in  this  way,  and  this  only,  that  most 
of  the  nations  and  tribes  of  our  race,  have,  much 
to  their  detriment,  found  a  knowledge  of  some  kind 
of  intoxicant.  The  same  explanation  is  applicable 
to  the  supposed  '  constitutional  susceptibility/  as  a 
primary  cause  of  intemperance.  That  some  persons 
inherit  a  greater  degree  of  nervous  and  organic 
susceptibility  than  others,  and  are,  in  consequence 
of  this  greater  susceptibility,  more  readily  affected 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  HJ 

by  a  given  quantity  of  narcotic,  anaesthetic  or  in- 
toxicant, is  undoubtedly  true.  And  that  such  will 

MOEE  KEADILY  BECOME  DRUNKARDS, 

if  they  once  commence  to  use  intoxicating  drinks, 
is  also  true.  But  that  such  persons,  or  any  others, 
have  the  slightest  inherent  or  constitutional  taste  or 
any  longing  for  intoxicants,  until  they  have  acquired 
such  taste  or  longing  by  actual  use,  we  find  no  reliable 
proof.  It  is  true  that  statistics  appear  to  show  that 
a  larger  proportion  of  the  children  of  drunkards 
become  themselves  drunkards,  than  of  children  born 
of  total  abstainers.  And  hence  the  conclusion  has 
been  drawn  that  such  children  INHERITED  the  con- 
stitutional tendency  to  inebriation.  But  before  we 
are  justified  in  adopting  such  a  conclusion,  several 
other  important  facts  must  be  ascertained. 

"  1st.  We  must  know  whether  the  mother,  while 
nursing,  used  more  or  less  constantly  some  kind  of 
alcoholic  beverage,  by  which  the  alcohol  might 
have  impregnated  the  milk  in  her  breasts  and 
thereby  made  its  early  impression  on  the  tastes  and 
longings  of  the  child. 

"  2d.  We  must  know  whether  the  intemperate 
parents  were  in  the  habit  of  frequently  giving  al- 
coholic preparations  to  the  children,  either  to  relieve 
temporary  ailments,  or  for  the  same  reason  that 
they  drank  it  themselves.  I  am  constrained  to  say, 
that  from  my  own  observation,  extending  over  a 
period  of  forty  years,  and  a  field  by  no  means  lirn- 


118         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

ited,  I  am  satisfied  that  nineteen  out  of  every  twenty 
persons  who  have  been  regarded  as  HEREDITARY 
inebriates  have  simply  ACQUIRED  the  disposition  to 
drink  by  one  or  both  of  the  methods  just  mentioned, 
after  birth." 

The  views  here  presented  in  no  way  lessen  but 
really  heighten  the  perils  of  moderate  drinking. 
It  is  affirmed  that  some  persons  inherit  a  greater 
degree  of  nervous  and  organic  susceptibility  than 
others,  and  are,  in  consequence,  more  readily  affected 
by  a  given  quantity  of  narcotic,  anesthetic  or  in- 
toxicant ;  and  that  such  "  will  more  readily  become 
drunkards  if  they  commence  to  use  intoxicating 
drinks" 

Be  the  cause  of  this 

INHERITED  NERVOUS  SUSCEPTIBILITY 

what  it  may,  and  it  is  far  more  general  than  is  to 
be  inferred  from  the  admission  just  quoted,  the  fact 
stands  forth  as  a  solemn  warning  of  the  peril  every 
man  encounters  in  even  the  most  moderate  use  of 
alcohol.  Speaking  of  this  matter,  Dr.  George  M. 
Beard,  who  is  not  as  sound  on  the  liquor  question 
as  we  could  wish,  says,  in  an  article  on  the  "  Causes 
of  the  Recent  Increase  of  Inebriety  in  America :" 
"As  a  means  of  prevention,  abstinence  from  the 
habit  of  drinking  is  to  be  enforced.  Such  abstinence 
may  not  have  been  necessary  for  our  fathers,  but  it 
is  rendered  necessary  for  a  large  body  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  on  account  of  our  greater  nervous  sus- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

\ 

ceptibility.  It  is  possible  to  drink  without  being  an 
habitual  drinker,  as  it  is  possible  to  take  chloral  or 
opium  without  forming  the  habit  of  taking  these 
substances.  In  certain  countries  and  climates  where 
the  nervous  system  is  strong  and  the  temperature 
more  equable  than  with  us,  in  what  I  sometimes 
call  the  temperate  belt  of  the  world,  including  Spain, 
Italy,  Southern  France,  Syria  and  Persia,  the  ha- 
bitual use  of  wine  rarely  leads  to  drunkenness,  and 
never,  or  almost  never,  to  inebriety  ;  but  in  the  in- 
temperate belt,  where  we  live,  and  which  includes 
Northern  Europe  and  the  United  States,  with  a  cold 
and  violently  changeable  climate,  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing either  wines  or  stronger  liquors  is  liable  to  de- 
velop in  some  cases  a  habit  of  intemperance.  No- 
tably in  our  country,  where  nervous  sensitiveness 
is  seen  in  its  extreme  manifestations,  the  majority  of 
brain -workers  are  not  safe  so  long  as  they  are  in 
the  habit  of  even  moderate  drinking.  I  admit  that 
this  was  not  the  case  one  hundred  years  ago — rand 
the  reasons  I  have  already  given — it  is  not  the  case 
to-day  in  Continental  Europe ;  even  in  England  it 
is  not  so  markedly  the  case  as  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  United  States.  For  those  individuals  who 
inherit  a  tendency  to  inebriety,  the  only  safe  course 
is  absolute  abstinence,  especially  in  early  life." 

In  the  same  article,  Dr.  Baird  remarks :  "  The 
number  of  those  in  this  country  who  cannot  bear 
tea,  coffee  or  alcoholic  liquors  of  any  kind,  is  very 
large.  There  are  many,  especially  in  the  Northern 


120          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

States,  who  must  forego  coffee  entirely,  and  use  tea 
only  with  caution ;  either,  in  any  excess,  cause 
trembling  nerves  and  sleepless  nights.  The  sus- 
ceptibility to  alcohol  is  so  marked,  with  many  per- 
sons, that  no  pledges,  and  no  medical  advice,  and 
no  moral  or  legal  influences  are  needed  to  keep  them 
in  the  paths  of  temperance.  Such  persons  are 
warned  by  flushing  of  the  face,  or  by  headache,  that 
alcohol,  whatever  it  may  be  to  others,  or  w/iatever  it 
may  have  been  to  their  ancestors,  is  poison  to 
them" 

But,  in  order  to  give  a  higher  emphasis  to  pre- 
cepts, admonition  and  medical  testimony,  we  offer  a 
single  example  of  the  enslaving  power  of  appetite, 
when,  to  a  predisposing  hereditary  tendency,  the 
excitement  of  indulgence  has  been  added.  The 
facts  of  this  case  were  communicated  to  us  by  a  pro- 
fessional gentleman  connected  with  one  of  our  largest 
inebriate  asylums,  and  we  give  them  almost  in  his 
very  words  in  which  they  were  related. 

A  EEMARKABLE  CASE. 

A  clever,  but  dissipated  actor  married  clandes- 
tinely a  farmer's  daughter  in  the  State  of  New 
York.  The  parents  of  the  girl  would  not  recognize 
him  as  the  husband  of  their  child;  rejecting  him  so 
utterly  that  he  finally  left  the  neighborhood*  A 
son  born  of  this  marriage  gave  early  evidence  of 
great  mental  activity,  and  was  regarded,  in  the  col- 
lege Avhere  he  graduated,  as  almost  a  prodigy  of 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

learning.  He  carried  off  many  prizes,  and  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  brilliant  orator.  Afterwards  he 
went  to  Princeton  and  studied  for  the  ministry. 
While  there,  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  secretly 
drinking.  The  faculty  did  everything  in  their  power 
to  help  and  restrain  him  ;  and  his  co-operation  with 
them  was  earnest  as  to  purpose,  but  not  permanently 
availing.  The  nervous  susceptibility  inherited  from 
his  father  responded  with  a  morbid  quickness  to 
every  exciting  cause,  and  the  moment  wine  or  spirits 
touched  the  sense  of  smell  or  taste,  he  was  seized 
with  an  almost  irresistible  desire  to  drink  to  excess, 
and  too  often  yielded  to  its  demands.  For  months 
he  would  abstain  entirely  ;  and  then  drink  to  intoxi- 
cation in  secret. 

After  graduating  from  Princeton  he  became  pastor 
of  a  church  in  one  of  the  largest  cities  of  Western 
New  York,  where  he  remained  for  two  years,  dis- 
tinguishing himself  for  his  earnest  work  and  fervid 
eloquence.  But  the  appetite  he  had  formed  was 
imperious  in  its  demands,  and  periodically  became 
so  strong  that  he  lost  the  power  of  resistance.  When 
these  periodic  assaults  of  appetite  came,  he  would 

LOCK  HIMSELF  IN  HIS  ROOM  FOR  DAYS 

and  satiate  the  fierce  thirst,  coming  out  sick  and 
exhausted.  It  was  impossible  to  conceal  from  his 
congregation  the  dreadful  habit  into  which  he  had 
fallen,  and  ere  two  years  had  elapsed  he  was  dis- 
missed for  drunkenness.  He  then  went  to  one  of 


122          CRAPPLTXG  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

the  chief  cities  of  the  "W^st,  where  he  received  a 
call,  and  was,  fora  time,  distinguished  as  a  preacher; 
but  again  he  fell  into  disgrace  and  had  to  leave  his 
charge.  Two  other  churches  called  him  to  fill  the 
office  of  pastor,  hut  the  same  sad  defections  from 
sobriety  followed.  For  a  considerable  time  after 
this  his  friends  lost  sight  of  him.  Then  lie  was 
found  in  the  streets  of  New  York  City  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  college  from  which  he  had  first  gradu- 
ated, wretched  and  debased  from  drink,  coatless  and 
had  ess.  His  old  friend  took  him  to  a  hotel,  and 
then  brought  his  case  to  the  notice  of  the  people  at 
a  prayer-meeting  held  in  the  evening  at  one  of  the 
churches.  His  case  was  immediately  taken  in  hand 
and  money  raised  to  send  him  to  the  State  Inebriate 
Asylum.  After  he  had  remained  there  for  a  year, 
he  began  to  preach  as  a  supply  in  a  church  a  few 
miles  distant,  going  on  Saturday  evening  and  re- 
turning on  Monday  morning ;  but  always  having  an 
attendant  with  him,  not  daring  to  trust  himself 
alone.  This  went  on  for  nearly  a  whole  year,  when 
a  revival  sprang  up  in  the  church,  which  he  con- 
ducted with  great  eloquence  and  fervor.  After  the 
second  week  of  this  new  excitement,  he  began  to 
lock  himself  up  in  his  room  after  returning  from 
the  service,  and  could  not  be  seen  until  the  next 
morning.  In  the  third  week  of  the  revival,  the 
excitement  of  the  meetings  grew  intense.  After 
this  he  was  only  seen  in  the  pulpit,  where  his  air 
ind  manner  were  wild  and  thrilling.  His  friends 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  123 

at  the  asylum  knew  that  he  must  be  drinking,  and 
.while  hesitating  as  to  their  wisest  course,  waited 
anxiously  for  the  result.  One  day  he  was  grandly 
eloquent.  Such  power  in  the  pulpit  had  never  been 
witnessed  there  before — his  appeals  were  unequalled; 
but  so  wild  and  impassioned  that  some  began  to  fear 
for  his  reason.  At  the  close  of  this  day's  services, 
the  chaplain  of  the  institution  of  which  he  was  an 
inmate,  returned  with  him  to  the  asylum,  and  on 
the  way,  told  him  frankly  that  he  was  deceiving  the 
people — that  his  eloquent  appeals  came  not  from  the 
power  of  he  Holy  Spirit,  but  from  the  excitement 
of  drink  ;  and  that  all  farther  conduct  of  the  meet- 
ings must  be  left  in  other  hands.  On  reaching  the 
asylum  he  retired,  greatly  agitated,  and  soon  after 
died  from  a  stroke  of  apoplexy.  In  his  room  many 
empty  bottles,  which  had  contained  brandy,  were 
found ;  but  the  people  outside  remained  in  ignorance 
of  the  true  cause  of  the  marvelous  eloquence  which 
had  so  charmed  and  moved  them. 

We  have  already  extended  this  chapter  beyond 
the  limit  at  first  proposed.  Our  object  has  not  only 
been  to  show  the  thoughtful  and  intelligent  reader 
who  uses  alcoholic  beverages,  the  great  peril  in  which 
he  stands,  but  to  make  apparent  to  every  one,  how 
insidious  is  the  growth  and  how  terrible  the  power 
of  this  appetite  for  intoxicants ;  an  appetite  which, 
if  once  established,  is  almost  sure  to  rob  its  victim 
of  honor,  pity,  tenderness  and  love ;  an  appetite, 
whose  indulgence  too  often  transforms  the  man  into 


124          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

a  selfish  demon.  Think  of  it,  all  ye  who  dally 
with  the  treacherous  cup ;  are  not  the  risks  you  are 
running  too  great?  Nay,  considering  your  duties 
and  your  obligations,  have  you  any  right  to  run 
these  risks  ? 

And  now  that  we  have  shown  the  curse  of  strong 
drink,,  let  us  see  what'  agencies  are  at  work  in  the 
abatement,  prevention  and  cure  of  a  disease  that  is 
undermining  the  health  of  whole  nations,  shorten- 
ing the  natural  term  of  human  life,  and  in  our 
own  country  alone,  sending  over  sixty  thousand 
men  and  women  annually  into  untimely  graves. 


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CHAPTER  VII. 

MEANS  OF  CURE. 

IS  this  disease,  or  vice,  or  sin,  or  crime  of  intem- 
perance— call  it  by  what  name  you  will — in- 
creasing or  diminishing  ?  Has  any  impression  been 
made  upon  it  during  the  half-century  in  which  there 
have  been  such  earnest  and  untiring  efforts  to  limit 
its  encroachments  on  the  health,  prosperity,  happi- 
ness and  life  of  the  people  ?  What  are  the  agencies 
of  repression  at  work ;  how  effective  are  they,  and 
what  is  each  doing? 

These  are  questions  full  of  momentous  interest. 
Diseases  of  the  body,  if  not  cured,  work  a  steady 
impairment  of  health,  and  bring  pains  and  physical 
disabilities.  If  their  assaults  be  upon  nervous 
centres,  or  vital  organs,  the  danger  of  paralysis  or 
death  becomes  imminent.  Now,  as  to  this  disease  of 
intemperance,  which  is  a  social  and  moral  as  well 
as  a  physical  disease,  it  is  not  to  be  concealed  that 
it  has  invaded  the  common  body  of  the  people  to 
an  alarming  degree,  until,  using  the  words  of  Holy 
Writ,  "  the  whole  head  is  sick  and  the  whole  heart 
faint."  Nay,  until,  using  a  still  stronger  form  of 
Scriptural  illustration,  "  From  the  sole  of  the  foot 
1C1 


132         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

even  unto  the  head,  there  is  no  soundness  in  it;  but 
wounds  and  bruises  and  putrifying  sores." 

In  this  view,  the  inquiry  as  to  increase  or  dimi- 
nution, assumes  the  gravest  importance.  If,  under 
all  the  agencies  of  cure  and  reform  which  have  been 
in  active  operation  during  the  past  fifty  years,  no 
impression  has  been  made  upon  this  great  evil  which 
is  so  cursing  the  people,  then  is  the  case  indeed 
desperate,  if  not  hopeless.  But  if  it  appears  that, 
under  these  varied  agencies,  there  has  been  an  arrest 
of  the  disease  here,  a  limitation  of  its  aggressive 
force  there,  its  almost  entire  extirpation  in  certain 
cases,  and  a  better  public  sentiment  everywhere;  then, 
indeed,  may  we  take  heart  and  say  "  God  speed  tem- 
perance work I"  in  all  of  its  varied  aspects. 

HOPEFUL  SIGNS. 

And  here,  at  the  outset  of  our  presentation  of 
gome  of  the  leading  agencies  of  reform  and  cure, 
let  us  say,  that  the  evidence  going  to  show  that  an 
impression  has  been  made  upon  the  disease  is  clear 
and  indisputable;  and  that  this  impression  is  so 
marked  as  to  give  the  strongest  hope  and  assurance. 
In  the  face  of  prejudice,  opposition,  ridicule,  perse- 
cution, obloquy  and  all  manner  of  discouragements, 
the  advocates  of  temperance  have  held  steadily  to 
their  work  these  many  years,  and  now  the  good 
results  are  seen  on  every  hand.  Contrast  the  public 
sentiment  of  to-day  with  that  of  twenty,  thirty  and 
forty  years  ago,  and  the  progress  becomes  at  once 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  133 

apparent.  In  few  things  is  this  so  marked  as  in 
the  changed  attitude  of  the  medical  profession  to- 
wards alcohol.  One  of  the  most  dangerous,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  one  of  the  most  securely  intrenched 
of  all  our  enemies,  was  the  family  doctor.  Among 
his  remedies  and  restoratives,  wine,  brandy,  whisky 
and  tonic  ale  all  held  a  high  place,  and  were  admin- 
istered more  frequently,  perhaps,  than  auy  other 
articles  in  the  Materia  Medica.  The  disease  of  his 
patients  arrested  by  special  remedies  or  broken  by  an 
effort  of  nature,  he  too  often  commenced  the  admin- 
istration of  alcohol  in  some  one  or  more  of  its  dis- 
guised and  attractive  forms,  in  order  to  give  tone 
and  stimulus  to  the  stomach  and  nerves,  and  as  a 
general  vitalizer  and  restorative.  The  evil  conse- 
quences growing  out  of  this  almost  universal  pre- 
scription of  alcohol,  were  of  the  most  lamentable 
character,  and  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women  were  betrayed  into  drunkenness. 
But  to-day,  you  will  not  find  a  physician  of  any 
high  repute  in  America  or  Europe  who  will  give  it 
to  his  patients,  except  in  the  most  guarded  manner 
and  under  the  closest  limitations ;  and  he  will  not 
consent  to  any  self-prescription  whatever. 

FRUITS  OF  TEMPERANCE  WORK. 

Is  not  this  a  great  gain  ?  And  it  has  come  as  the 
result  of  temperance  work  and  agitation,  as  Dr. 
Henry  Monroe  frankly  admits  in  his  lecture  on  the 
Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol,  where,  after  stating 


134          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER ;    OR,' 

that  his  remarks  would  not  partake  of  the  character 
of  a  total  abstinence  lecture,  but  rather  of  a  scien- 
tific inquiry  into  the  mode  of  action  of  alcohol  when 
introduced  into  the  tissues  of  the  body,  he  adds : 
"  Nevertheless,  I  would  not  have  it  understood  that 
I,  in  any  way,  disparage  the  moral  efforts  made  by 
total  abstainers  who,  years  ago,  amid  good  report 
and  evil  report,  stood  in  the  front  of  the  battle  to 
war  against  the  multitude  of  evils  occasioned  by 
strong  drink ; — all  praise  be  due  to  them  for  their 
noble  and  self-denying  exertions !  Had  it  not  been 
for  the  successful  labors  of  these  moral  giants  in  the 
great  cause  of  temperance,  presenting  to  the  world 
in  their  own  personal  experiences  many  new  and 
astounding  physiological  facts,  men  of  science  would, 
probably,  never  have  had  their  attention  drawn  to 
the  topic" 

Then,  as  a  result  of  temperance  work,  we  have  a 
more  restrictive  legislation  in  many  States,  and 
prohibitory  laws  in  New  Hampshire,  Vermont  and 
Maine.  In  the  State  of  Maine,  a  prohibitory  law 
has  been  in  operation  for  over  twenty -six  years; 
and  so  salutary  has  been  the  effect  as  seen  in  the 

REDUCTION  OF  POVERTY,  PAUPERISM  AND  CRIME, 

that  the  Legislature,  in  January,  1877,  added  new 
and  heavier  penalties  to  the  law,  both  Houses  passing 
on  the  amendment  without  a  dissenting  voice.  In 
all  that  State  there  is  not,  now,  a  single  distillery  or 
brewery  in  operation,  nor  a  single  open  bar-room. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  135 

Forty  years  ago  the  pulpit  was  almost  silent  on 
the  subject  of  intemperance  and  the  liquor  traffic ; 
now,  the  church  is  fast  arraying  itself  on  the  side 
of  total  abstinence  and  prohibition,  and  among  its 
ministers  are  to  be  found  many  of  our  most  active 
temperance  workers. 

Forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  the  etiquette  of  hospi- 
tality was  violated  if  wine,  or  cordial,  or  brandy 
were  not  tendered.  Nearly  every  sideboard  had  its 
display  of  decanters,  well  filled,  and  it  was  almost 
as  much  an  offense  for  the  guest  to  decline  as  for  the 
host  to  omit  the  proffered  glass.  Even  boys  and 
girls  were  included  in  the  custom ;  and  tastes  were 
acquired  which  led  to  drunkenness  in  after  life. 
All  this  is  changed  now. 

The  curse  of  the  liquor  traffic  is  attracting,  as 
never  before,  the  attention  of  all  civilized  people; 
and  national,  State  and  local  legislatures  and  gov- 
ernments are  appointing  commissions  of  inquiry, 
and  gathering  data  and  facts,  with  a  view  to  its 
restriction. 

And,  more  hopeful*than  all,  signs  are  becoming 
more  and  more  apparent  that  the  people  are  every- 
where awakening  to  a  sense  of  the  dangers  that 
attend  this  traffic.  Enlightenment  is  steadily  pro- 
gressing. Reason  and  judgment;  common  sense 
and  prudence,  are  all  coming  to  the  aid  of  repression. 
Men  see,  as  they  never  saw  before,  how  utterly  evil 
and  destructive  are  the  drinking  habits  of  this  and 
other  nations;  how  they  weaken  the  judgment  and 


136         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

deprave  the  moral  sense;  how  they  not  only  take 
from  every  man  who  falls  into  them  his  ability  to 
do  his  best  in  any  pursuit  or  calling,  but  sow  in  his 
body  the  germs  of  diseases  which  will  curse  him  in 
his  later  years  and  abridge  their  term. 

Other  evidences  of  the  steady  growth  among  the 
people  of  a  sentiment  adverse  to  drinking  might  be 
given.  We  see  it  in  the  almost  feverish  response 
that  everywhere  meets  the  strong  appeals  of  tem- 
perance speakers,  and  in  the  more  pronounced  atti- 
tude taken  by  public  and  professional  men. 

JUDGES  ON  THE  BENCH 

and  preachers  from  the  pulpit  alike  lift  their  voices 
in  condemnation.  Grand  juries  repeat  and  repeat 
their  presentations  of  liquor  selling  and  liquor 
drinking  as  the  fruitful  source  of  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  the  crimes  and  miseries  that  afflict  the 
community ;  and  prison  reports  add  their  painful 
emphasis  to  the  warning  of  the  inquest. 

The  people  learn  slowly,  but  they  are  learning. 
Until  they  will  that  this  accursed  traffic  shall  cease, 
it  must  go  on  with  its  sad  and  awful  consequences. 
But  the  old  will  of  the  people  has  been  debased  by 
sensual  indulgence.  It  is  too  weak  to  set  itself 
against  the  appetite  by  which  it  has  become  en- 
slaved. There  must  be  a  new  will  formed  in  the 
ground  of  enlightenment  and  intelligence;  and 
then,  out  of  knowing  what  is  rightf  and  duty  in 
regard  to  this  great  question  of  temperance  and 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  137 

restriction,  will  come  the  will  to  do.  And  when 
we  have  this  new  will  resting  in  the  true  enlighten- 
ment of  the  people,  we  shall  have  no  impeded 
action.  Whatever  sets  itself  in  opposition  thereto 
must  go  down. 

And  for  this  the  time  is  coming,  though  it  may 
still  be  far  off.  Of  its  steady  approach,  the  evidences 
are  many  and  cheering.  Meanwhile,  we  must  work 
and  wait.  If  we  are  not  yet  strong  enough  to  drive 
out  the  enemy,  we  .may  limit  his  power,  and  do 

THE  WORK  OF  HEALING  AND  SAVING. 

What,  then,  is  being  done  in  this  work  of  healing 
and  saving?  Is  there,  in  fact,  any  cure  for  the 
dreadful  malady  of  drunkenness?  Are  men  ever 
really  saved  from  its  curse?  and,  if  so,  how  is  it 
done,  and  what  are  the  agencies  employed  ? 

Among  the  first  of  these  to  which  we  shall  refer, 
is  the  pledge.  As  a  means  of  reform  and  restric- 
tion, it  has  been  used  by  temperance  workers  from 
the  beginning,  and  still  holds  a  prominent  place. 
Seeing  that  only  in  a  complete  abstinence  from  in- 
toxicating drinks  was  there  any  hope  of  rescue  for 
the  drunkard,  or  any  security  for  the  moderate 
drinker,  it  was  felt  that  under  a  solemn  pledge  to 
wholly  abstain  from  their  use,  large  numbers  of  men 
would,  from  a  sense  of  honor,  self-respect  or  con- 
science, hold  themselves  free  from  touch  or  taste. 
In  the  case  of  moderate  drinkers,  with  whom  appe- 
tite is  yet  under  control,  the  pledge  has  been  of 


Io8          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTEE;    OR, 

great  value;    but  almost  useless  after  appetite  haa 
gained  the  mastery. 

In  a  simple  pledge  there  is  no  element  of  self- 
control.  If  honor,  self-respect  or  conscience,  rally- 
ing to  its  support  in  tlie  hour  of  temptation,  be  not 
stronger  than  appetite,  it  will  be  of  no  avail.  And 
it  too  often  happens  that,  with  the  poor  inebriate, 
these  have  become  blunted,  or  well-nigh  extin- 
guished. The  consequence  has  been  that  where  the 
pledge  has  been  solely  relied  upon,  the  percentage 
of  reform  has  been  very  small.  As  a  first  means  of 
rescue,  it  is  invaluable ;  because  it  is,  on  the  part  of 
him  who  takes  it,  a  complete  removal  of  himself  from 
the  sphere  of  temptation,  and  so  long  as  he  holds 
himself  away  from  the  touch  and  taste  of  liquor,  he 
is  safe.  If  the  pledge  will  enable  him  to  do  this, 
then  the  pledge  will  save  him.  But  it  is  well  known, 
from  sad  experience,  that  only  a  few  are  saved  by  the 
pledge.  The  strength  that  saves  must  be  something 
more  than  the  external  bond  of  a  promise ;  it  must 
come  from  within,  and  be  grounded  in  a  new  and 
changed  life,  internally  as  well  as  externally.  If  the 
reformed  man,  after  he  takes  his  pledge,  does  not 
endeavor  to  lead  a  better  moral  life — does  not  keep 
himself  away  from  old  debasing  associations — does 
not  try,  earnestly  and  persistently,  to  become,  in  all 
things, 

A  TRUER,  PURER,  NOBLER  MAN, 

then  his  pledge  is  only  as  a  hoop,  that  any  over- 
strain may  break,  and  not  an  internal  bond,  holding 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  129 

in  integrity  all  things  from  the  centre  to  the  cir- 
cumference of  his  life. 

So  well  is  this  now  understood,  that  little  reliance 
is  had  on  the  pledge  in  itself,  though  its  use  is  still 
general.  It  is  regarded  as  a  first  and  most  impor- 
tant step  in  the  right  direction.  As  the  beginning 
of  a  true  and  earnest  effort  on  the  part  of  some  un- 
happy soul  to  break  the  bonds  of  a  fearful  slavery. 
But  few  would  think  of  leaving  such  a  soul  to  the 
saving  power  of  the  pledge  alone.  If  other  help 
came  not,  the  effort  would  be,  except  in  rare  cases, 
too  surely;  all  in  vain. 

The  need  of  something  more  reliable  than  a  sim- 
ple pledge  has  led  to  other  means  of  reform  and 
cure,  each  taking  character  and  shape  from  the 
peculiar  views  of  those  -who  have  adopted  them. 
Inebriate  Asylums  and  Reformatory  Homes  have 
been  established  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and 
through  their  agency  many  who  were  once  enslaved 
by  drink  are  being  restored  to  society  and  good 
citizenship.  In  what  is  popularly  known  as  the 
"  Gospel  Temperance"  movement,  the  weakness  of 
the  pledge,  in  itself,  is  recognized,  and,  "  God  being 
my  helper,"  is  declared  to  be  the  ultimate  and  only 
sure  dependence. 

It  is  through  this  abandonment  of  all  trust  in  the 
pledge,  beyond  a  few  exceptional  cases,  that  re- 
formatory work  rises  to  its  true  sphere  and  level  of 
success.  And  we  shall  now  endeavor  to  show  what 
is  being  done  in  the  work  of  curing  drunkards,  as 


140         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

well  in  asylums  and  Reformatory  Homes,  as  by  the 
so-called  "Gospel"  methods.  In  this  we  shall,  as 
far  as  possible,  let  each  of  these  important  agencies 
t>peak  for  itself,  explaining  its  own  methods  and 
giving  its  own  results.  All  are  accomplishing  good 
in  their  special  line  of  action ;  all  are  saving  men 
from  the  curse  of  drink,  and  the  public  needs  to  be 
more  generally  advised  of  what  they  are  doing. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

INEBRIATE    ASYLUMS. 

r  I  THE  careful  observation  and  study  of  inebri- 
-L  ety  by  medical  men,  during  the  past  twenty- 
five  or  thirty  years,  as  well  in  private  practice  as  in 
hospitals  and  prisons,  has  led  them  to  regard  it  as, 
in  many  of  its  phases,  a  disease  needing  wise  and 
careful  treatment.  To  secure  such  treatment  was 
seen  to  be  almost  impossible  unless  the  subject  of 
intemperance  could  be  removed  from  old  associations 
and  influences,  and  placed  under  new  conditions,  in 
which  there  would  be  no  enticement  to  drink,  and 
where  the  means  of  moral  and  physical  recovery 
could  be  judiciously  applied.  It  was  felt  that,  as  a 
disease,  the  treatment  of  drunkenness,  while  its 
subject  remained  in  the  old  atmosphere  of  tempta- 
tion, was  as  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  as  the  treat- 
ment of  a  malarious  fever  in  a  miasmatic  district. 
The  result  of  this  view  was  the  establishment  of 
Inebriate  Asylums  for  voluntary  or  enforced  seclu- 
sion, first  in  the  United  States,  and  afterwards  in 
England  and  some  of  her  dependencies. 

In  the  beginning,  these  institutions  did  not  have 
much  favor  with  the  public;    and,  as  the  earlier 
methods  of  treatment  pursued  therein  were,  for  the 
141 


142          GRAPPLING  WITH  TILE  MONSTER;    OR, 

most  part,  experimental,  and  based  on  a  limited 
knowledge  of  the  pathology  of  drunkenness,  the 
beneficial  results  were  not  large.  Still,  the  work 
went  on,  and  the  reports  of  cures  made  by  the  New 
York  State  Asylum,  at  Binghampton,  the  pioneer 
of  these  institutions,  were  sufficiently  encouraging 
to  lead  to  their  establishment  in  other  places ;  and 
there  are  now  in  this  country  as  many  as  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  public  and  private  institutions  for 
the  treatment  of  drunkenness.  Of  these,  the  New 
York  State  Inebriate  Asylum,  at  Binghamton ;  the 
Inebriate  Home,  at  Fort  Hamilton,  Long  Island ; 
and  the  Home  for  Incurables,  San  Francisco,  Cal., 
are  the  most  prominent.  At  Hartford,  Conn.,  the 
Walnut  Hill  Asylum  has  recently  been  opened  for 
the  treatment  of  inebriate  and  opium  cases,  under 
the  care  of  Dr.  T.  D.  Crothers.  The  Pinel  Hospital, 
at  Richmond,  Va.,  chartered  by  the  State,  in  1876, 
is  for  the  treatment  of  nervous  and  mental  diseases, 
and  for  the  reclamation  of  inebriates  and  opium- 
eaters.  In  Needham,  Mass.,  is  the  Appleton  Tem- 
porary Home,  where  a  considerable  number  of 
inebriates  are  received  every  year. 

Besides  these,  there  are  private  institutions,  in 
which  dypsomaniac  patients  are  received.  The 
methods  of  treatment  differ  according  to  the  views 
and  experience  of  those  having  charge  of  these 
institutions.  Up  to  this  time  a  great  deal  of  the  treat- 
ment has  been  experimental ;  and  there  is  still  much  . 
difference  of  opinion  among  physicians  and  super- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  143 

intendents  in  regard  to  the  best  means  of  cure.  But, 
on  two  important  points,  all  are  nearly  in  agreement. 
The  first  is  in  the  necessity  for  an  immediate  and 

ABSOLUTE  WITHDKAWAL  OF  ALL  INTOXICANTS  FROM 
THE  PATIENT, 

no  matter  how  long  he  may  have  used  them ;  and 
the  second  in  the  necessity  of  his  entire  abstinence 
therefrom  after  leaving  the  institution.  The  cure 
never  places  a  man  back  where  he  was  before  he  be- 
came subject  to  the  disease  ;  and  lie  can  never,  after 
his  recovery,  taste  even  the  milder  forms  of  alcoholic 
beverage  without  being  exposed  to  the  most  imminent 
danger  of  relapse. 

The  great  value  of  an  asylum  where  the  victim 
of  intemperance  can  be  placed  for  a  time  beyond 
the  reach  of  alcohol  is  thus  stated  by  Dr.  Carpen- 
ter :  "  Vain  is  it  to  recall  the  motives  for  a  better 
course  of  conduct,  to  one  who  is  already  familiar 
with  them  all,  but  is  destitute  of  the  will  to  act  upon 
them ;  the  seclusion  of  such  persons  from  the  reach 
of  alcoholic  liquors,  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
to  free  the  blood  from  its  contamination,  to  restore 
the  healthful  nutrition  of  the  brain  and  to  enable 
the  recovered  mental  vigor  to  be  wisely  directed, 
seems  to  afford  the  only  prospect  of  reformation : 
and  this  cannot  be  expected  to  be  permanent,  unless 
the  patient  determinately  adopts  and  steadily  acts 
on  the  resolution  to  abstain  from  that  which,  if  again 
indulged  in,  will  be  poison,  alike  to  his  body  and  to 
his  mind." 


J44          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

In  the  study  of  inebriety  and  the  causes  leading 
thereto,  much  important  information  has  been  gath- 
ered by  the  superintendents  and  physicians  con- 
nected with  these  establishments.  Dr.  D.  G.  Dodge, 
late  Superintendent  of  the  New  York  State  Inebri- 
ate Asylum,  read  a  paper  before  the  American  As- 
sociation for  the  Cure  of  Inebriates,  in  1870,  on 
"Inebriate  Asylums  and  their  Management,"  in 
which  are  given  the  results  of  many  years  of  study, 
observation  and  experience.  Speaking  of  the  causes 
leading  to  drunkenness,  he  says : 

"  Occupation  has  a  powerful  controlling  influence 
in  developing  or  warding  off  the  disease.  In -door 
life  in  all  kinds  of  business,  is  a  predisposing 
cause,  from  the  fact  that  nearly  the  whole  force  of 
the  stimulant  is  concentrated  and  expended  upon 
the  brain  and  nervous  system.  A  proper  amount  of 
out-door  exercise,  or  labor,  tends  to  throw  off  the 
stimulus  more  rapidly  through  the  various  func- 
tional operations  of  the  system.  Occupation  of  all 
kinds,  mental  or  muscular,  assist  the  nervous  system 
to  retard  or  resist  the  action  of  stimulants — other 
conditions  being  equal.  Want  of  employment,  or 
voluntary  idleness  is  the  great  nursery  of  this  dis- 
ease. 

TOBACCO. 

"  The  use  of  tobacco  predisposes  the  system  to  al- 
soholism,  and  it  has  an  effect  upon  the  brain  and 
nervous  system  similar  to  that  of  alcohol.  The  use 
of  tobacco,  if  not  prohibited,  should  be  discouraged. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  145 

The  treatment  of  inebriates  can  never  be  wholly 
successful  until  the  use  of  tobacco  in  all  forms  is 
absolutely  dispensed  with. 

"Statistics  show  that  inebriety  oftenest  prevails 
between  the  ages  of  thirty  and  forty-five.  The  habit 
seldom  culminates  until  thirty,  the  subject  to  this 
age  generally  being  a  moderate  drinker ;  later  in 
life  the  system  is  unable  to  endure  the  strain  of  a 
continued  course  of  dissipation. 

"  Like  all  hereditary  diseases,  intemperance  is 
transmitted  from  parent  to  child  as  much  as  scrofula, 
gout  or  consumption.  It  observes  all  the  laws  in 
transmitting  disease.  It  sometimes  overleaps  one 
generation  and  appears  in  the  succeeding,  or  it  will 
miss  even  the  third  generation,  and  then  reappear 
in  all  its  former  activity  and  violence.  Hereditary 
inebriety,  like  all  transmissible  diseases,  gives  the 
least  hope  of  permanent  cure,  and  temporary  relief 
is  all  that  can  generally  be  reasonably  expected. 

"  Another  class  possesses  an  organization  which 
may  be  termed  an  alcoholic  idiosyncrasy ;  with  them 
the  latent  desire  for  stimulants,  if  indulged,  soon 
leads  to  habits  of  intemperance,  and  eventually  to  a 
morbid  appetite,  which  has  all  the  characteristics  of  a 
diseased  condition  of  the  system,  which  the  patient, 
unassisted,  is  powerless  to  relieve,  since  the  weakness 
of  will  that  led  to  the  disease  obstructs  its  removal. 

"The  second  class  may  be  subdivided  as  follows: 
First,  those  who  have  had  healthy  and  temperate 
parents,  and  have  been  educated  and  accustomed  to 


140          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

good  influences,  moral  and  social,  but  whose  tem- 
perament and  physical  constitution  are  such  that 
when  they  once  indulge  in  the  use  of  stimulants, 
which  they  find  pleasurable,  they  continue  to  habitu- 
ally indulge  till  they  cease  to  be  moderate,  and  be- 
come excessive  drinkers.  A  depraved  appetite  is 
established  tliat  leads  them  on  slowly,  but  surely,  to 
destruction. 

"  Temperaments  have  much  to  do  with  the  for- 
mation of  the  habit  of  excessive  drinking.  Those 
of  a  nervous  temperament  are  less  likely  to  contract 
the  habit,  from  the  fact  that  they  are  acutely  sensi- 
tive to  danger,  and  avoid  it  while  they  have  the 
power  of  self-control.  On  the  other  hand,  those  of 
a  bilious,  sanguine  and  lymphatic  temperament, 
rush  on,  unmindful  of  the  present,  and  soon  become 
slaves  to  a  depraved  and  morbid  appetite,  powerless 
to  stay,  or  even  to  check  their  downward  course." 

As  we  cannot  speak  of  the  treatment  pursued  in 
inebriate  asylums  from  personal  observation,  we 
know  of  no  better  way  to  give  our  readers  correct 
impressions  on  the  subject,  than  to  quote  still  farther 
from  Dr.  Dodge.  "For  a  better  understanding," 
he  says,  "of  the  requisite  discipline  demanded  in 
the  way  of  remedial  restraint  of  inebriates,  we  notice 
some  of  the  results  of  chronic  inebriation  affecting 
more  particularly  the  brain  and  nervous  system — 
which,  in  addition  to  the  necessary  medical  treat- 
ment, necessitates  strict  discipline  to  the  successful 
management  of  these  cases. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  14~ 

RESULTS  OF  CHRONIC  INEBRIATION. 

"  We  have  alcoholic  epilepsy,  alcoholic  mania, 
delirium  tremens,  tremors,  hallucinations,  insomnia, 
-vertigo,  mental  and  muscular  debility,  impairment 
of  vision,  mental  depression,  paralysis,  a  partial  or 
total  loss  of  self-respect  and  a  departure  of  the 
power  of  self -control.  Many  minor  difficulties  arise 
from  mere  functional  derangement  of  the  brain  and 
nervous  system,  which  surely  and  rapidly  disappear 
when  the  cause  is  removed." 

The  general  rule,  on  the  reception  of  a  patient,  is 
to  cut  off  at  once  and  altogether  the  use  of  alcohol 
in  every  form.  "  More,"  says  the  doctor,  "  can  be 
done  by  diet  and  medicine,  than  can  be  obtained  by 
a  compromise  in  the  moderate  use  of  stimulants  for 
a  limited  period."  It  is  a  mistake,  he  adds,  to  sup- 
pose "  that  any  special  danger  arises  from  stopping 
the-  accustomed  stimulus.  Alcohol  is  a  poison,  and 
we  should  discontinue  its  use  at  once,  as  it  can  be 
done  with  safety  and  perfect  impunity,  except  in 
rare  cases." 

To  secure  all  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  medi- 
cal treatment,  "  we  should  have,"  says  Dr.  Dodge, 
"  institutions  for  the  reception  of  inebriates,  where 
total  abstinence  can  be  rigidly,  but  judiciously  en- 
forced for  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  to  test  the 
curative  powers  of  absolute  restraint  from  all  iutoxi-: 
eating  drinks..  When  the  craving  for  stimulants  is 
irresistible,  it  is  useless  to  make  an  attempt  to  re- 
claim and  cure  the  drunkard,  unless  the  detention  is 


148          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER:    OR, 

compulsory,  and  there  is  complete  restraint  from  all 
spirituous  or  alcoholic  stimulants." 

REMOVAL  FROM  TEMPTATION. 

In  regard  to  the  compulsory  power  that  should 
inhere  in  asylums  for  the  cure  of  drunkenness,  there 
is  little  difference  of  opinion  among  those  who  have 
had  experience  in  their  management.  They  have 
more  faith  in  time  than  in  medicine,  and  think  it  as 
much  the  duty  of  the  State  to  establish  asylums  for 
the  treatment  of  drunkenness  as  for  the  treatment  of 
insanity.  "  The  length  of  time  necessary  to  cure 
inebriation,"  says  Dr.  Dodge,  "  is  a  very  important 
consideration.  A  habit  covering  five,  ten,  fifteen  or 
twenty  years,  cannot  be  expected  to  be  permanently 
eradicated  in  a  week  or  a  month.  The  fact  that 
the  excessive  use  of  stimulants  for  a  long  period  of 
time  has  caused  a  radical  change,  physically,  men- 
tally and  morally,  is  not  only  the  strongest  possible 
proof  that  its  entire  absence  is  necessary,  but,  also, 
that  it  requires  a  liberal  allowance  of  time  to  effect 
a  return  to  a  normal  condition.  The  shortest  period 
of  continuous  restraint  and  treatment,  as  a  general 
rule,  should  not  be  less  than  six  months  in  the  most 
hopeful  cases,  and  extending  from  one  to  two  years 
with  the  less  hopeful,  and  more  especially  for  the 
class  of  periodical  drinkers,  and  those  with  an 
hereditary  tendency." 

A  well-directed  inebriate  asylum  not  only  affords, 
says  the  same  authority,  "  effectual  removal  of  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  \A^ 

patient  from  temptations  and  associations  which 
surrounded  him  in  the  outer  world,  but  by  precept 
and  example  it  teaches  him  that  he  can  gain  by  his 
reformation,  not  the  ability  to  drink  moderately  and 
with  the  least  safety,  but  the  power  to  abstain  alto- 
gether. With  the  restraint  imposed  by  the  institu- 
tion, and  the  self-restraint  accepted  on  the  part  of 
the  patient,  are  remedial  agents  from  the  moment 
he  enters  the  asylum,  growing  stronger  and  more 
effective  day  by  day,  until  finally  he  finds  total  ab- 
stinence not  only  possible,  but  permanent.  With 
this  much  gained  in  the  beginning,  the  asylum  is 
prepared  to  assist  in  the  cure  by  all  the  means  and 
appliances  at  its  command.  With  the  co-operation 
of  the  patient,  and  such  medicinal  remedies  and  hy- 
gienic and  sanitary  measures  as  may  be  required,  the 
most  hopeful  results  may  be  confidently  looked  for. 

THE  HYGIENIC  AND  SANITARY  MEASURES 

consist  in  total  abstinence  from  all  alcoholic  bever- 
ages ;  good  nourishing  diet ;  well  ventilated  rooms ; 
pure,  bracing  air;  mental  rest,  and  proper  bodily 
exercise.  *  *  *  Every  patient  should  be  re- 
quired to  conform  to  all  rules  and  regulations 
which  have  for  their  object  the  improvement  of  his 
social,  moral  and  religious  condition.  He  must 
begin  a  different  mode  of  life,  by  breaking  up 
former  habits  and  associations;  driving  from  the 
mind  the  old  companions  of  an  intemperate  life ; 
forming  new  thoughts,  new  ideas  and  new  and 


150          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

better  habits,  which  necessitates  a  new  life  in  every 
respect.  This  is  the  aim  and  object  of  the  rules  for 
the  control  and  government  of  inebriates.  To  assist 
in  this  work,  inebriate  institutions  should  have 
stated  religious  services,  and  all  the  patients  and 
officers  should  be  required  to  attend  them,  unless 
excused  by  the  medical  officer  in  charge,  for  sick- 
ness, or  other  sufficient  cause." 

THE  BINGHAMPTON  ASYLUM, 

Of  all  the  inebriate  asylums  yet  established,  the 
one  at  Binghampton,  New  York,  has  been,  so  far, 
the  most  prominent.  It  is  here  that  a  large  part 
of  the  experimental  work  has  been  done ;  and  here, 
we  believe,  that  the  best  results  have  l>een  ob- 
tained. This  asylum  is  a  State  Institution,  and  will 
accommodate  one  hundred  and  twenty  patients.  In 
all  cases  preference  must  be  given  to  "indigent 
inebriates,"  who  may  be  sent  to  the  asylum  by 
county  officers,  who  are  required  to  pay  seven  dol- 
lars a  week  for  the  medical  attendance,  board  and 
washing,  of  each  patient  so  sent.  Whenever  there 
are  vacancies  in  the  asylum,  the  superintendent  can 
admit,  under  special  agreement,  such  private  patients 
as  may  seek  admission,  and  who,  in  his  opinion, 
promise  reformation. 

The  building  is  situated  on  an  eminence  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  feet  above  the  Susquehanna  River,  the 
scenery  stretching  far  up  and  down  the  valley, 
having  features  of  uncommon  beauty  and  grandeur. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

Each  patient  has  a  thoroughly  warmed  and  venti- 
lated room,  which,  from  the  peculiar  situation  of  the 
house,  commands  a  wide  view  of  the  adjoining 
country.  The  tables  are  supplied  with  a  variety 
and  abundance  of  good  food,  suitable  in  every  re- 
spect to  the  wants  of  the  patients,  whose  tastes  and 
needs  are  carefully  considered.  Amusements  of 
various  kinds,  including  billiards,  etc.,  are  provided 
within  the  building,  which  afford  pleasure  and 
profit  to  the  patients.  Out-door  pastimes,  such  as 
games  of  ball  and  croquet,  and  other  invigorating 
sports,  are  encouraged  and  practised.  The  asylum 
grounds  embrace  over  four  hundred  acres,  part  of 
which  are  in  a  state  of  cultivation.  The  remainder 
diversified  in  character,  and  partly  consisting  of 
forest. 

Gentlemen  who  desire  to  place  themselves  under 
the  care  of  the  asylum,  may  enter  it  without  any 
other  formality  than  a  compliance  with  such  condi- 
tions as  may  be  agreed  upon  between  themselves 
and  the  superintendent.  The  price  of  admission 
varies  according  to  location  of  rooms  and  attention 
required.  Persons  differ  so  widely  in  their  circum- 
stances and  desires,  that  the  scale  of  prices  has  been 
fixed  at  from  ten  to  twenty-five  dollars  per  weekj 
which  includes  board,  medical  attendance,  washing, 
etc.  In  all  cases  the  price  of  board  for  three  months 
must  be  paid  in  advance. 

From  one  of  the  annual  reports  of  this  institu- 
tion now  before  us,  we  learn  that  the  number  of 


152          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

patients  treated  during  the  year  was  three  hundred 
and  thirty-six,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  "  were  discharged  with  great  hopes  of  perma- 
nent reformation."  Fifty-eight  were  discharged 
unimproved.  The  largest  number  of  patients  in 
the  asylum  at  one  time  was  a  hundred  and  five. 

SAVING  AND  KEFORMING  INFLUENCES. 

Of  those  discharged — two  hundred  and  fifty-six  in 
number — eighty -six  were  of  a  nervous  temperament, 
ninety-eight  sanguine  and  seventy-two  bilious.  In 
their  habits,  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  were  social 
and  twenty-two  solitary.  Out  of  the  whole  number, 
two  hundred  and  forty-four  used  tobacco — only 
twelve  being  free  from  its  use.  Of  these,  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  had  been  constant  and  ninety-six 
periodical  drinkers.  Serious  affliction,  being  un- 
fortunate in  business,  love  matters,  prosperity,  etc., 
were  given  as  reasons  for  drinking  by  one  hundred 
and  two  of  the  patients.  One  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  had  intemperate  parents  or  ancestors.  One 
hundred  and  forty  were  married  men  and  one  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  single.  Their  occupations  were 
varied.  Merchants,  fifty-eight ;  clerks,  thirty-five ; 
lawyers,  seventeen  ;  book-keepers,  sixteen  ;  manufac- 
turers, eight;  bankers  and  brokers,  eight;  machin- 
ists, seven  ;  mechanics,  six ;  farmers,  six ;  clergy- 
men, five ;  editors  and  reporters,  five,  etc. 

In  regard  to  some  of  the  special  influences  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  patients  in  this  institution,  we  have 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

the  following.  It  Is  from  a  communication  (in  an- 
swer to  a  letter  of  inquiry)  received  by  us  from  Dr. 
T.  D.  Crothers,  formerly  of  Bingliampton,  but  now 
superintendent  of  the  new  Walnut  Hill  Asylum, 
at  Hartford,  Connecticut :  "  You  have  failed  to  do  us 
credit,"  he  says,  "  in  supposing  that  we  do  not  use  the 
spiritual  forces  in  our  treatment.  We  depend  largely 
upon  them.  We  have  a  regularly-appointed  chap- 
lain who  lives  in  the  building,  and  gives  his  entire 
time  to  the  religious  culture  of  the  patients.  Rev. 
Dr.  Bush  was  with  us  eight  years.  He  died  a  few 
months  ago.  He  was  very  devoted  to  his  work, 
and  the  good  he  did,  both  apparent  to  us  and  un- 
known, was  beyond  estimate.  His  correspondence 
was  very  extensive,  and  continued  for  years  with 
patients  and  their  families.  He  was  the  counselor 
and  adviser  of  many  persons  who  did  not  know  him 
personally,  but  through  patients.  I  have  seen  letters 
to  him  from  patients  in  all  conditions  asking  counsel, 
both  011  secular  and  spiritual  matters ;  also  the  most 
heart-rending  appeals  and  statements  of  fathers, 
mothers,  wives  and  children,  all  of  which  he  reli- 
giously answered.  He  urged  that  the  great  duty 
and  obligation  of  every  drunkard  was  to  take  care 
of  his  body;  to  build  up  all  the  physical,  to  avoid 
all  danger,  and  take  no  risks  or  perils ;  that  his 
only  help  and  reliance  were  on  God  and  good  health; 
that  with  regular  living  and  healthy  surroundings, 
and  a  mind  full  of  faith  and  hope  in  spiritual  reali- 
ties, the  disorder  Avould  die  out.  Our  now  chaplain 


1">4          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

holds  daily  service,  as  usual,  and  spends  much  cl 
his  time  among  the  patients.  He  lives  ia  the  build- 
ing, pronounces  grace  at  the  table  and  is  personally 
identified  as  a  power  to  help  men  towards  recovery. 
Quite  a  large  number  of  patients  become  religious 
men  here.  Our  work  and  its  influences  have  a 
strong  tendency  this  way.  I  believe  in  the  force  of 
a  chaplain  whose  daily  walk  is  with  us ;  who,  by 
example  and  precept,  can  win  men  to  higher 
thoughts.  He  is  the  receptacle  of  secrets  and  much 
of  the  inner  life  of  patients  that  physicians  do  not 
reach." 

In  another  letter  to  us,  Dr.  Crothers  says:  " Every 
asylum  that  I  know  of  is  doing  good  work,  and 
should  be  aided  and  encouraged  by  all  means.  The 
time  has  not  come  yet,  nor  the  experience  or  study 
to  any  one  man  or  asylum,  necessary  to  build  up  a 
system  of  treatment  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others. 
We  want  many  years  of  study  by  competent  men, 
and  the  accumulated  experience  of  many  asylums 
before  we  can  understand  the  first  principles  of  that 
moral  and  physical  disorder  we  call  drunkenness. 

TREATMENT. 

"As  to  the  treatment  and  the  agents  governing  it, 
we  recognize  in  every  drunkard  general  debility  and 
conditions  of  nerve  and  brain  exhaustion,  and  a  cer- 
tain train  of  exciting  causes  which  always  end  in 
drinking.  Now,if  we  can  teach  these  men  the  'sources 
of  danger/  and  pledge  them  and  point  them  to  a 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  1  r^ 

J.UO 

higher  power  for  help,  we  combine  both  spiritual  and 
physical  means.  We  believe  that  little  can  be  ex- 
pected from  spiritual  aids,  or  pledges,  or  resolves,  un- 
less the  patient  can  so  build  up  his  physical  as  to 
sustain  them.  Give  a  man  a  healthy  body  and  brain- 
power, and  you  can  build  up  his  spiritual  life;  but  all 
attempts  to  cultivate  a  power  that  is  crushed  by  dis- 
eased forces  will  be  practically  useless.  Call  it  a  vice 
or  a  disease,  it  matters  not,  the  return  to  health 
must  be  along  the  line  of  natural  laws  and  means. 
Some  men  will  not  feel  any  longing  for  drink  unless 
they  get  in  the  centre  of  excitement,  or  violate  some 
natural  law,  or  neglect  the  common  means  of  health. 
Now,  teach  them  these  exciting  causes,  and  build  up 
their  health,  and  the  pledge  will  not  be  difficult  to 
keep.  This  asylum  is  a  marvel.  It  is,  to-day,  suc- 
cessful. Other  asylums  are  the  same,  and  we  feel 
that  we  are  working  in  the  line  of  laws  that  are 
fixed,  though  obscure." 

DEEPLY  INTERESTING  CASES. 

The  records  of  this  institution  furnish  cases  of 
reform  of  the  most  deeply  interesting  character. 
Here  are  a  few  of  them: 

CASE  No.  1.  A  Southern  planter  who  had  be- 
come a  drunkard  was  brought  to  this  asylum  by  his 
faithful  colored  man.  In  his  fits  of  intoxication  he 
fell  into  the  extraordinary  delusion  that  his  devoted 
wife  was  unfaithful ;  and  so  exasperated  did  he  be- 
come when  seized  by  this  insane  delusion,  that  he 


156         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

often  attempted  her  life.  She  was  at  last  obliged  to 
keep  out  of  his  way  whenever  he  came  under  the 
influence  of  liquor.  When  sober,  his  memory  of 
these  hallucinations  was  sufficiently  distinct  to  fill 
him  with  sorrow,  shame  and  fear ;  for  he  sincerely 
loved  his  wife  and  knew  her  to  Le  above  reproach. 
After  the  war,  during  which  he  held  the  position  of 
a  general  in  the  Southern  army,  he  became  very 
much  reduced  in  his  circumstances,  lost  heart  and 
gave  himself  up  to  drink.  The  friends  of  his  wife 
tried  to  prevail  on  her  to  abandon  him ;  but  she 
still  clung  to  her  husband,  though  her  life  was  often 
in  danger  from  his  insane  passion.  Four  years  of 
this  dreadful  experience,  in  which  she  three  times 
received  serious  personal  injuries  from  his  hands, 
and  then  the  old  home  was  broken  up,  and  he  went 
drifting  from  place  to  place,  a  human  ship  without 
a  rudder  on  temptation's  stormy  sea ;  his  unhappy 
wife  following  him,  more  or  less,  in  secret,  and  often 
doing  him  service  and  securing  his  protection.  In 
the  spring  of  1874,  his  faithful  colored  man  brought 
him  to  the  asylum  at  Binghampton,  a  perfect  wreck. 
His  wife  came,  also,  and  for  three  months  boarded 
near  the  institution,  and,  without  his  knowledge, 
watched  and  prayed  for  him.  After  a  few  weeks' 
residence,  the  chaplain  was  able  to  lead  his  mind  to 
the  consideration  of  spiritual  subjects,  and  to  im- 
press him  with  the  value  of  religious  faith  and  the 
power  of  prayer.  He  became,  at  length,  dccHy 
interested ;  read  many  religious  books,  and  particu- 


THE  CUESE  AND  THE  CUEE.  157 

larly  the  Bible.  At  the  end  of  three  months  his 
wife  came  to  see  him,  and  their  meeting  was  of  a 
most  affecting  character.  A  year  later,  he  left 
the  asylum  and  went  to  a  Western  city,  where  he 
now  resides — a  prosperous  and  happy  man. 

CASE  No.  2.  A  clergyman  of  fortune,  position 
and  education  lost  his  daughter,  and  began  to  drink 
in  order  to  drown  his  sorrow.  It  was  in  vain  that 
his  wife  and  friends  opposed,  remonstrated,  implored 
and  persuaded ;  he  drank  on,  the  appetite  steadily 
increasing,  until  he  became  its  slave.  His  congre- 
gation dismissed  him ;  his  wife  died  of  a  broken 
heart ;  he  squandered  his  fortune ;  lost  his  friends, 
and,  at  last,  became  a  street  reporter  for  some  of  the 
New  York  papers,  through  means  of  which  he 
picked  up  a  scanty  living.  From  bad  to  worse,  he 
swept  down  rapidly,  and,  for  some  offense  committed, 
while  drunk,  was,  at  last,  sent  for  three  months  to 
the  State  prison.  On  coming  out,  and  returning  to 
the  city,  he  became  a  fish-peddler,  but  continued  to 
drink  desperately.  One  day  he  was  picked  up  in 
the  street  in  a  state  of  dead  intoxication  and  taken 
to  the  hospital,  where  he  was  recognized  by  the 
doctor,  who  had  him  sent  to  Binghampton  as  a 
county  patient.  Here  he  remained  for  over  a  year, 
submitting  himself  to  the  regime,  and  coming  under 
the  salutary  influences  of  the  institution,  and  making 
an  earnest,  prayerful  and  determined  effort  at  re- 
form. At  the  end  of  this  period  he  left  the  asylum 
to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  a  minister  in  the  far 


l.~,8          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

West;  and  to-day  he  is  the  president  of  a  new  college, 
and  a  devout  and  earnest  man!  He  attributes  his 
cure  to  the  influence  of  the  late  chaplain,  Rev.  Mr. 
Bush,  and  to  the  new  life  he  was  able  to  lead  under 
the  protecting  influences  and  sanitary  regulations  of 
the  asylum.  This  is  a  meagre  outline  of  a  very 
remarkable  case. 

CASE  No.  3.  A  poor  farmer's  boy  acquired, 
while  in  the  army,  an  inordinate  appetite  for  drink. 
He  was  sent  to  the  New  York  Inebriate  Asylum, 
but  was  expelled  because  he  made  no  effort  to  re  form. 
Six  months  afterwards  he  joined  a  temperance  so- 
ciety, and  kept  sober  for  a  year;  but  fell,  and  was 
again  sent  to  the  asylum.  This  time  he  made  an 
earnest  effort,  and  remained  at  the  asylum  for  seven 
months,  when  he  was  offered  a  situation  in  Chicago, 
which  he  accepted.  For  a  year  he  held  this  place, 
then  relapsed  and  came  back  to  the  asylum,  where 
he  stayed  for  over  twelve  months.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  he  returned  to  Chicago  and  into  his  old 
situation.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm,  and  an 
active  temperance  man,  with  every  prospect  of  re- 
maining so  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

THE  CARE  AND  TREATMENT  OF  DRUNKARDS 

The  subject  of  the  care  and  treatment  of  habitual 
drunkards  is  attracting  more  and  more  attention. 
They  form  so  large  a  non-producing,  and  often  vicious 
and  dangerous  class  of  half-insane  men,  that  con- 
siderations of  public  and  private  weal  demand  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

institution  of  some  effective  means  for  their  refor- 
mation, control  or  restraint.  Legislative  aid  has 
been  invoked,  and  laws  submitted  and  discussed ; 
but,  so  far,  beyond  sentences  of  brief  imprisonment 
in  jails,  asylums  and  houses  of  correction,  but  little 
has  really  been  done  for  the  prevention  or  cure  of 
the  worst  evil  that  inflicts  our  own  and  other  civil- 
ized nations.  On  the  fmbject  of  every  man's  "  lib- 
erty to  get  drunk/'  a;id  waste  his  substance  and 
abuse  and  beggar  his  family,  the  public  mind  is 
peculiarly  sensitive  and  singularly  averse  to  restrict- 
ive legislation.  But  a  public  sentiment  favorable  to 
such  legislation  is  steadily  gaining  ground ;  and  to 
the  formation  and  growth  of  this  sentiment,  many 
leading  and  intelligent  physicians,  both  in  this 
country  and  Great  Britain,  who  have  given  the 
subject  of  drunkenness  as  a  disease  long  and  careful 
attention,  are  lending  all  their  influence.  It  is  seen 
that  a  man  who  habitually  gets  drunk  is  dangerous 
to  society,  and  needs  control  and  restraint  as  mucli 
as  if  he  \\ere  insane. 

LEGISLATIVE  CONTROL. 

In  1875,  a  deputation,  principally  representative 
of  the  medical  profession,  urged  upon  the  British 
Government  the  desirability  of  measures  for  the 
control  and  management  of  habitual  drunkards. 
On  presenting  the  memorial  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
for  the  Home  Department,  Sir  Thomas  Watson, 
M.D.,  observed :  "  That  during  his  very  long  pro- 


3(30          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

fessional  life  he  had  been  incredulous  respecting  the 
reclamation  of  habitual  drunkards ;  but  his  late  ex- 
perience had  made  him  sanguine  as  to  their  cure, 
with  a  very  considerable  number  of  whom  excessive 
drinking  indulged  in  as  a  vice,  developed  itself  into 
a  most  formidable  bodily  and  mental  disease." 

In  the  early  part  of  February,  1877,  "A  Bill  to 
Facilitate  the  Control  and  Care  of  Habitual  Drunk- 
ards," was  introduced  into  the  House  of  Commons. 
It  is  supposed  to  embody  the  latest  and  most  practical 
methods  of  dealing  legally  with  that  class,  and  is  of 
unusual  interest  from  the  fact  that  it  was  prepared 
under  the  direction  of  a  society  for  the  promotion  of 
legislation  for  the  cure  of  habitual  drunkards,  re- 
cently organized  in  London,  in  which  are  included 
some  of  the  most  learned,  influential  and  scientific 
men  of  the  Kingdom. 

This  bill  provides  for  the  establishment  of  retreats 
or  asylums,  public  or  private,  into  which  drunkards 
may  be  admitted  on  their  own  application,  or  to 
which  they  may  be  sent  by  their  friends,  and  where 
they  can  be  held  by  law  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
twelve  months. 

In  the  State  of  Connecticut,  there  is  a  law  which 
may  be  regarded  as  embodying  the  most  advanced 
legislation  on  this  important  subject.  The  first 
section  is  as  follows : 

"Whenever  any  person  shall  have  become  an 
habitual  drunkard,  a  dypsomaniac,  or  so  far  addicted 
to  the  intemperate  use  of  narcotics  or  stimulants  as 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUKE.  1(31 

to  have  lost  the  power  of  self-control,  the  Court  of 
Probate  for  the  district  in  which  such  person  resides, 
or  has  a  legal  domicil,  shall,  on  application  of  a 
majority  of  the  selectmen  of  the  town  where  such 
person  resides,  or  has  a  legal  domicil,  or  of  any 
relative  of  such  person,  make  due  inquiry,  and  if  it 
shall  find  such  person  to  have  become  an  habitual 
drunkard,  or  so  far  addicted  to  the  intemperate  use 
of  narcotics  or  stimulants  as  to  have  lost  the  power 
of  self-control,  then   said  court  shall  order  such 
person  to  be  taken  to  some  inebriate  asylum  within 
this  State,  for  treatment,  care  and   custody,  for  a 
term  not  less  than  four  months,  and  not  more  than 
twelve  months ;  but  if  said  person  shall  be  found  to 
be  a  dypsomaniac,  said  term  of  commitment  shall 
be  for  the  period  of  three  years:  provided,  however, 
that  the  Court  of  Probate  shall  not  in  either  case 
make  such  order  without  the  certificate  of  at  least 
two  respectable  practising  physicians,  after  a  per' 
sonal  examination,  made  within  one  week  before  the 
time  of  said  application  or  said  commitment,  which 
certificate  shall  contain  the  opinion  of  said  physi- 
cians that  such  person  has  become,  as  the  case  may 
be,  a  dypsomaniac,  an  habitual  drunkard,  or  has,  by 
reason  of  the  intemperate  use  of  narcotics  or  stimu- 
lants, lost  the  power  of  self-control,  and  requires 
the  treatment,  care  and  custody  of  some  inebriate 
asylum,  and  shall  be  subscribed  and  sworn  to  by 
said  physicians  before  an  authority  empowered  to 
administer  oaths." 


102          CRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MOSSTER;    OR, 

LOSS  TO  THE  STATE  IN  NOT  ESTABLISHING  ASYLUMS 

In  a  brief  article  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  oj 
Inebriety,  for  1877,  Dr.  Dodge  thus  emphasizes 
his  views  of  the  importance  to  the  State  of  estab- 
lishing asylums  to  which  drunkards  may  be  sent  for 
treatment :  "  Every  insane  man  who  is  sent  to  an 
asylum,  is  simply  removed  from  doing  harm,  and 
well  cared  for,  and  rarely  comes  back  to  be  a  pro- 
ducer again.  But  inebriates  (the  hopeful  class) 
promise  immeasurably  more  in  their  recovery.  They 
are,  as  inebriates,  non-producers  and  centres  of  dis- 
ease, bad  sanitary  and  worse  moral  surroundings. 
All  their  career  leads  down  to  crime  and  poverty. 
The  more  drunkards,  the  more  courts  of  law,  and 
almshouses,and  insane  asylums,  and  greater  the  taxes. 
Statistics  show  that  from  fifty  to  sixty  per  cent,  of 
crime  is  due  to  drunkenness ;  and  we  all  know  how 
large  poverty  is  due  to  this  cause.  Drunkenness  is 
alone  responsible  for  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  per 
cent,  of  all  our  insane. 

"  We  assert,  and  believe  it  can  be  proved,  that 
reclaiming  the  drunkard  is  a  greater  gain  to  the 
State,  practical  and  immediate,  than  any  other 
charity. 

"  It  is  a  low  estimate  to  say  it  costs  every  county 
in  the  State  three  hundred  dollars  yearly  to  support 
a  drunkard ;  that  is,  this  amount,  and  more,  is  di- 
verted from  healthy  channels  of  commerce,  and  is, 
practically,  lost  to  the  State.  At  an  inebriate  asy- 
lum, but  little  over  that  amount  would,  in  a  large 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  1£3 

majority  of  cases,  restore  them  as  active  producers 
again. 

"  Figures  cannot  represent  the  actual  loss  to  so- 
ciety, nor  can  we  compute  the  gain  from  a  single 
case  cured  and  returned  to  normal  life  and  useful- 
ness. Inebriety  is  sapping  the  foundation  of  our 
Government,  both  State  and  National,  and  unless  we 
can  provide  means  adequate  to  check  it,  we  shall 
leave  a  legacy  of  physical,  moral  and  political  dis- 
ease to  our  descendants,  that  will  ultimately  wreck 
this  country.  Inebriate  asylums  will  do  much  to 
check  and  relieve  this  evil." 

We  conclude  this  chapter,  which  is  but  an  im- 
perfect presentation  of  the  work  of  our  inebriate 
asylums,  by  a  quotation  from  the  Quarterly  Jour- 
nal of  Inebriety,  for  September,  1877.  This  peri- 
odical is  published  under  the  auspices  of  "The 
American  Association  for  the  Cure  of  Inebriates." 
The  editor,  Dr.  Crothers,  says :  "  We  publish  in 
this  number,  reports  of  a  large  number  of  asylums 
from  all  parts  of  the  country,  indicating  great  pros- 
perity and  success,  notwithstanding  the  depression 
of  the  times.  Among  the  patients  received  at  these 
asylums,  broken-down  merchants,  bankers,  business 
men,  who  are  inebriates  of  recent  date,  and  chronic 
cases  that  have  been  moderate  drinkers  for  many 
years,  seem  to  be  more  numerous.  The  explanation 
is  found  in  the  peculiar  times  in  which  so  many  of 
the  business  men  are  ruined,  and  the  discharge  of 
a  class  of  employees  whose  uncertain  habits  and 


164         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

want  of  special  fitness  for  their  work  make  them 
less  valuable.  Both  of  these  classes  drift  to  the 
inebriate  asylum,  and,  if  not  able  to  pay,  finally  go 
to  insane  hospitals  and  disappear. 

"  Another  class  of  patients  seem  more  prominent 
this  year,  namely,  the  hard-working  professional 
and  business  men,  who  formerly  went  away  to  Eu- 
rope, or  some  watering-place,  with  a  retinue  of 
servants ;  now  they  appear  at  our  retreats,  spend  a 
few  months,  and  go  away  much  restored.  The  out- 
look was  never  more  cheery  than  at  present,  the 
advent  of  several  new  asylums,  and  the  increased 
usefulness  of  those  in  existence,  with  the  constant 
agitation  of  the  subject  among  medical  men  at  home 
and  abroad,  are  evidence  of  great  promise  for  the 
future.  Of  the  Journal  we  can  only  say  that,  as  the 
organ  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Cure  of 
Inebriates,  it  will  represent  the  broadest  principles 
and  studies  which  the  experience  of  all  asylums 
confirm,  and  independent  of  any  personal  interest, 
strive  to  present  the  subject  of  inebriety  and  its 
treatment  in  its  most  comprehensive  sense." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EEFOEMATOKY    HOMES. 

"T^vIFFERING  in  some  essential  particulars  from 
-i—S  inebriate  asylums  or  hospitals  for  the  cure  of 
drunkenness  as  a  disease,  are  the  institutions  called 
"  Homes."  Their  name  indicates  their  character. 
It  is  now  about  twenty  years  since  the  first  of  these 
was  established.  It  is  located  at  41  Waltham  Street, 
Boston,  in  an  elegant  and  commodious  building  re- 
cently erected,  and  is  called  the  "  Washingtonian 
Home."  The  superintendent  is  Dr.  Albert  Day. 
In  1863,  another  institution  of  this  character  came 
into  existence  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  This  is  also 
called  the  "  Washingtonian  Home."  It  is  situated 
in  West  Madison  Street,  opposite  Union  Park.  The 
building  is  large  and  handsomely  fitted  up,  and  has 
accommodations  for  over  one  hundred  inmates. 
Prof.  D.  Wilkins  is  the  superintendent.  In  1872 
"  The  Franklin  Reformatory  Home,"  of  Philadel- 
phia, was  established.  It  is  located  at  Nos.  911, 
913  and  915  Locust  Street,  in  a  well-arranged  and 
thoroughly-furnished  building,  in  which  all  the 
comforts  of  a  home  may  be  found,  and  can  accom- 
modate over  seventy  persons.  Mr.  John  Graff  is 
the  superintendent. 
1G5 


166          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OE, 

As  we  have  said,  the  name  of  these  institutions 
indicates  their  character.  They  are  not  so  much 
hospitals  for  the  cure  of  a  disease,  as  homes  of  refuge 
and  safety,  into  which  the  poor  inebriate,  who  has 
lost  or  destroyed  his  own  home,  with  all  its  good 
and  saving  influences,  may  come  and  make  a  new 
effort,  under  the  most  favoring  influences,  to  recover 
himself. 

The  success  which  has  attended  the  work  of  the 
three  institutions  named  above,  has  been  of  the  most 
gratifying  character.  In  the 

WASHINGTONIAN  HOME  AT  BOSTON, 

drunkenness  has  been  regarded  as  a  malady,  which 
may  be  cured  through  the  application  of  remedial 
agencies  that  can  be  successfully  employed  only 
under  certain  conditions ;  and  these  are  sought  to 
be  secured  for  the  patient.  The  home  and  the  hos- 
pital are,  in  a  certain  sense,  united.  "  While  we  are 
treating  inebriety  as  a  disease,  or  a  pathological  con- 
dition," says  the  superintendent,  in  his  last  report, 
"  there  are  those  who  regard  it  as  a  species  of  wick- 
edness or  diabolism,  to  be  removed  only  by  moral 
agencies.  Both  of  these  propositions  are  true  in  a 
certain  sense.  There  is  a  difference  between  sin 
and  evil,  but  the  line  of  demarkation  is,  as  yet,  ob- 
scure, as  much  so  as  the  line  between  the  responsi- 
bility and  irresponsibility  of  the  inebriate." 

Doubtless,  the  good  work  done  in  this  excellent 
institution  is  due,  in  a  large  measure,  to  the  moral 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  1G7 

and  religious  influences  under  which  the  inmates 
are  brought.  Nature  is  quick  to  repair  physical 
waste  and  deterioration,  when  the  exciting  causes  of 
disease  are  removed.  The  diseased  body  of  the 
drunkard,  as  soon  as  it  is  relieved  from  the  poison- 
ing influence  of  alcohol,  is  restored,  in  a  measure,  to 
health.  The  brain  is  clear  once  more,  and  the  moral 
faculties  again  able  to  act  with  reason  and  con- 
science. And  here  comes  in  the  true  work  of  the 
Home,  which  is  the  restoration  of  the  man  to  a 
state  of  rational  self-control ;  the  quickening  in  his 
heart  of  old  affections,  and  the  revival  of  old  and 
better  desires  and  principles. 

BENEFICIAL  RESULTS. 

"Among  the  beneficial  results  of  our  labor,"  says 
Dr.  Day,  "  we  see  our  patients  developing  a  higher 
principle  of  respect  for  themselves  and  their  friends. 
This,  to  us,  is  of  great  interest.  We  see  indications 
convincing  us  that  the  mind,  under  our  treatment, 
awakens  to  a  consciousness  of  what  it  is,  and  what 
it  is  made  for.  We  see  man  becoming  to  himself  a 
higher  object,  and  attaining  to  the  conviction  of  the 
equal  and  indestructible  of  every  being.  In  them 
we  see  the  dawning  of  the  great  principle  advocated 
by  us  continually,  viz.,  That  the  individual  is  not 
made  to  be  the  instrument  of  others,  but  to  govern 
himself  by  an  inward  law,  and  to  advance  towards 
his  proper  perfections ;  that  he  belongs  to  himself 
and  to  God,  and  to  no  human  superior.  In  all  our 


168         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

teachings  we  aim  to  purify  and  ennoble  the  charac- 
ter of  our  patients  by  promoting  in  them  true  virtue, 
strong  temperance  proclivities  and  a  true  piety  ;  and 
to  accomplish  these  ends  we  endeavor  to  stimulate 
their  own  exertions  for  a  better  knowledge  of  God, 
and  for  a  determined  self-control." 

And  again  he  says :  "Almost  every  day  we  hear 
from  some  one  who  has  been  with  us  under  treat- 
ment, who  has  been  cured.  Their  struggles  had 
been  fierce,  and  the  battle  sometimes  would  seem  to 
be  against  them  ;  but,  at  last,  they  have  claimed  the 
victory.  In  rny  experience,  I  have  found  that  so 
long  as  the  victim  of  strong  drink  has  the  will, 
feeble  as  it  ir.ay  be,  to  put  forth  his  efforts  for  a 
better  life,  and  his  constant  struggle  is  in  the  right 
direction,  he  is  almost  sure  to  regain  his  will  power, 
and  succeed  in  overcoming  the  habit.  By  exercise, 
the  will  gp.'/.s  strength.  The  thorns  in  the  flesh  of 
our  spirJnjial  nature  will  be  plucked  out,  the  spiritual 
life  w.'.'C  r/3  developed,  and  our  peace  shall  flow  as 
the  r'vor.  This  condition  we  constantly  invoke, 
and  }.yji  all  the  means  within  our  reach  we  try  to 
stim  ib.te  the  desire  for  a  better  life.  I  am  pleased 
to  say  our  efforts  in  this  direction  have  not  been  in 
vain.  For  nearly  twenty  years  we  have  been  en- 
gaged m  this  work,  and  we  have  now  more  confi- 
dence :<*i  the  means  employed  than  at  any  other 
period.  Situated,  as  we  are,  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
city,  Y/ith  a  Christian  sympathy  constantly  active 
and  co-operating  with  us,  no  one  can  remain  in  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

institution  without  being  the  recipient  of  beneficial 
influences,  the  effect  of  which  is  salutary  in  the  ex- 
treme. I  am  fully  satisfied  that  the  '  Washingtonian 
Home'  is  greatly  indebted  to  these  moral  agencies  for 
its  success." 

The  following  letter,  received  by  us,  from  Otis 
Clapp,  who  has  been  for  sixteen  years  president 
of  the  "  Washingtonian  Home,"  will  give  the  reader 
a  still  clearer  impression  of  the  workings  of  that 
institution.  It  is  in  answer  to  one  we  wrote,  asking 
for  information  about  the  institution  in  which  he 
had  been  interested  for  so  many  years : 

"  BOSTON,  August  9th,  1877. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : — Your  letter  is  received,  and  I  am  glad  to 
learn  that  your  mind  is  directed  to  the  subject  of  the  curse 
and  cure  of  drunkenness.  This  is  one  of  the  largest  of  human 
fields  to  work  in.  The  'Washingtonian  Home'  was  com- 
menced in  a  very  humble  way,  in  November,  1857.  An  act  of 
incorporation  was  obtained  from  the  State,  March  26th,  1859. 

"The  institution  has,  therefore,  been  in  existence  nearly 
twenty  years.  My  connection  with  it  has  been  for  eighteen 
years — sixteen  years  as  president.  During  the  period  of  its 
existence  the  whole  number  of  patients  has  been  five  thou- 
sand three  hundred  and  forty-eight.  Of  this  number,  the 
superintendent,  Dr.  Day,  estimates  the  cured  at  one-half.  Of 
the  remainder,  it  is  estimated  that  one-half,  making  one-quar- 
ter of  the  whole,  are  greatly  improved. 

"  You  say,  '  I  take  the  general  ground,  and  urge  it  strongly 
-ipon  the  reader  that,  without  spiritual  help — regeneration,  in  a 
word — there  is,  for  the  confirmed  inebriate,  but  little  hope,  and 
no  true  safety.' 

"  In  this  I  fully  concur.  I  believe  in  using  all  the  agencies 
• — medical,  social,  moral  aud  religious — to  bear  upon  the  pa- 


170         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER ;   OR, 

tient,  and  to  encourage  him  to  follow  the  'straight  and  narrow 
way.'  With  this  view,  a  morning  service  is  held  each  day  ;  a 
Sunday  evening  service  at  six  o'clock,  and  every  Friday  even- 
ing a  meeting,  where  patients  relate  their  experience,  and  en- 
courage each  other  in  gaining  power  over  the  enemy.  I 
have  had  much  experience  and  abundant  evidence  that  these 
meetings  are  of  great  value,  for  the  reason  that  the  patients 
are  the  principal  speakers,  and  can  do  more  to  encourage  each 
other  than  those  outside  of  their  own  ranks.  These  meetings 
are  usually  attended  by  about  equal  numbers  of  both  sexes, 
and,  with  fine  music,  can  be  kept  up  with  interest  indefinitely. 

'*  It  would  be,  in  my  judgment,  a  matter  of  wide  economy 
for  the  intelligent  citizens  of  every  city,  with  twenty  thousand 
or  more  inhabitants,  to  establish  a  home,  or  asylum  for  ine- 
briates. Let  those  who  favor  sobriety  in  the  community,  take 
a  part  in  it,  and  they  will  soon  learn  how  to  reach  the  class 
who  needs  assistance.  A  large,  old-fashioned  house  can  be 
leased  at  small  expense,  and  the  means  raised  by  contributions 
of  money  and  other  necessary  articles  to  start.  The  act  of 
doing  this  will  soon  enable  those  engaged  in  the  work  to  learn 
what  the  wants  are,  and  how  to  meet  them.  It  is  only  obeying 
the  command,  '  Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  and  com- 
pel them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled.'  This  is 
the  Master's  work,  and  those  who  hear  this  invitation,  as  well 
as  those  who  accept  it,  will  share  in  its  blessings. 

"  Those  who  cultivate  the  spirit  of  '  love  to  God,  and  good^ 
will  to  their  fellow-men,'  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  much 
easier  it  is  to  do  these  things  when  they  try,  than  when  they 
only  think  about  them. 

"Much,  of  course,  depends  upon  the  superintendent,  who 
needs  to  possess  those  genial  qualities  which  readily  win  the 
confidence  and  good-will  of  patients,  and  which  he  readily 
turns  to  account,  by  encouraging  them  to  use  the  means  which 
the  Creator  has  given  them  to  co-operate  in  curing  themselves. 
The  means  of  cure  are  in  the  patient's  own  hands,  and  it  is 
quite  a  gift  to  be  able  to  make  him  see  it." 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 
THE  WASHINGTONIAN  HOME  AT  CHICAGO 

is  on  the  same  plan,  in  all  essential  respects,  with 
that  of  Boston ;  and  the  reports  show  about  the 
same  average  of  cures  and  beneficial  results.  How 
the  patient  is  treated  in  this  Home  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following  extract  from  an  article  on  "  The 
Cause,  Effect  and  Cure  of  Inebriety,"  from  the  pen 
of  Prof.  D.  Wilkins,  the  superintendent,  which 
appeared  in  a  late  number  of  The  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Inebriety.  In  answer  to  the  question, 
How  can  we  best  save  the  poor  drunkard,  and  restore 
him  to  his  manhood,  his  family  and  society,  he  says : 
"  Money,  friends,  relatives  and  all  have  forsaken 
him,  his  hope  blasted,  his  ambition  gone,  and  he  feels 
that  no  one  has  confidence  in  him,  no  one  cares  for 
him.  In  this  condition  he  wends  his  way  to  an  institu- 
tion of  reform,  a  penniless,  homeless,  degraded,  lost 
and  hopeless  drunkard.  Here  is  our  subject,  how 
shall  we  save  him  ?  He"  has  come  from  the  squalid 
dens,  and  lanes  of  filth,  of  misery,  of  want,  of  de- 
bauchery and  death ;  no  home,  no  sympathy  and 
no  kind  words  have  greeted  him,  perhaps,  for  years. 
He  is  taken  to  the  hospital.  A  few  days  pass,  and 
he  awakes  from  the  stupidity  of  drink,  and  as  he 
opens  his  eyes,  what  a  change !  He  looks  around, 
kind  and  gentle  voices  welcome  him,  his  bed  is  clean 
and  soft,  the  room  beautiful,  tasteful  and  pleasant  in 
its  arrangements,  the  superintendent,  the  physician, 
the  steward  and  the  inmates  meet  him  with  a  smile 
and  treat  him  as  a  brother.  He  is  silent,  lost  in 


172          CRATPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

meditation.  Thoughts  of  other  clays,  of  other  years, 
pass  through  his  mind  in  quick  succession  as  the 
tears  steal  gently  down  his  cheeks.  He  talks  thus 
to  himself:  '  I  am  mistaken.  Somebody  does  care 
for  the  drunkard.  And  if  somebody  cares  for  me, 
/  ought  to  care  for  myself.'  Here  reform  first  com- 
mences. In  a  few  days,  when  free,  to  some  extent, 
from  alcohol,  he  is  admitted  to  the  freedom  of  the 
institution.  As  he  enters  the  reading-room,  the 
library,  the  amusement,  the  gymnasium,  dining- 
room  and  spacious  halls,  the  conviction  becomes 
stronger  and  stronger  that  somebody  is  interested 
in  the  inebriate,  and  he  should  be  interested  in 
himself.  Then  conies  the  lessons  of  the  superin- 
tendent. He  is  taught  that  he  cannot  be  reformed, 
but  that  he  can  reform  himself.  That  God  helps 
those  only  who  help  themselves.  That  he  must  ignore 
all  boon  companions  of  the  cup  as  associates,  all 
places  where  liquor  is  kept  and  sold,  that,  in  order 
to  reform  himself,  he  must  become  a  reformer,  labor 
for  the  good  of  his  brother ;  in  short,  he  must  shun 
every  rivulet  that  leads  him  into  the  stream  of  in- 
temperance, and  as  a  cap-stone  which  completes  the 
arch,  that  he  must  look  to  Him  from  whence  cometh 
all  grace  and  power  to  help  in  time  of  need. 

"As  he  converses  with  those  that  are  strong  in 
experience,  listens  to  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures in  the  morning  devotions,  joins  in  the  sweet 
songs  of  Zion  and  unites  in  unison  with  his  brother 
inmates  in  saying  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  he  hears  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  173 

strong  experiences  in  the  public  meetings  and  secret 
associations  of  those  who  have  remained  firm  for 
one,  two,  three,  and  up  to  ten  or  fifteen  years,  little 
by  little  his  confidence  is  strengthened,  and  almost 
before  he  is  aware,  the  firm  determination  is  formed 
and  the  resolve  made,  I  will  drink  no  more.  As 
week  after  week,  and  month  after  month,  glides 
pleasantly  away,  these  resolutions  become  stronger 
and  stronger,  and  by  thus  educating  his  intellect 
and  strengthening  his  moral  power,  the  once  hope- 
less, disheartened  and  helpless  one  regains  his  for- 
mer manhood  and  lost  confidence,  and  becomes  a 
moral,  independent,  reformed  man.  Perhaps  the 
most  difficult  thing  in  this  work  of  reform,  is  to 
convince  our  inmates  that  resolving  to  stop  drink- 
ing, or  even  stopping  drinking  for  the  time  being, 
is  not  reforming.  Those  admitted,  generally,  in 
about  two  weeks,  under  the  direction  of  a  skillful 
physician,  and  the  nursing  of  a  faithful  steward, 
recover  so  as  to  sleep  well  and  eat  heartily,  and 
their  wills,  seemingly,  are  as  strong  as  ever.  Feel- 
ing thus,  they  often  leave  the  institution,  sobered 
up,  not  reformed,  and  when  the  periodical  time 
arrives,  or  temptation  comes,  they  have  no  moral 
power  to  resist,  arid  they  rush  back  to  habits  of 
intoxication.  They  forget  that  the  will  is  like  a 
door  on  its  hinges,  with  the  animal  desires,  appe- 
tites, evil  inclinations  and  passions  attached  to  one 
Bide,  leading  them  into  trouble  and  making  them 
unhappy,  unless  they  are  held  by  the  strong  power 


174       GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  WNSTER  ;  OR, 

of  the  sense  of  moral  right  attached  to  the  other 
side,  and  that  for  years  they  have  been  stifling  and 
weakening  this  power,  until  its  strength  is  almost,  if 
not  entirely,  gone,  and  that  the  only  way  they  can 
possibly  strengthen  it,  independent  of  the  grace  of 
God,  is  by  education,  moral  light  and  testing  it 
under  circumstances  so  favorable  that  it  will  not 
yield.  It  took  years  of  disobedience  to  destroy  the 
moral  power,  and  it  will  take  years  of  obedience  to 
restore  it  again.  The  inebriate  must  be  taught  that 
he  can  refrain  from  drink  only  as  he  strengthens 
this  moral  power,  and  this  requires  time  and  trial. 
Here  is  just  where  we,  as  superintendents,  or  re- 
formers, assume  great  responsibility.  To  under- 
stand just  when  to  test,  and  how  much  temptation 
can  be  resisted  by  those  under  our  charge,  requires 
much  wisdom  and  great  experience." 

From  this  extract  the  reader  will  learn  something 
of  the  influences  which  are  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
inmates  of  a  home  for  the  reformation  of  inebriates; 
and  he  will  see  how  much  reliance  is  placed  on 
moral  and*religious  agencies. 

TESTIMONY  OF  THE  REFORMED. 

From  the  Chicago  Home  is  issued  a  monthly 
paper  called  The  Washingtonian,  devoted  to  the 
interest  of  the  institution  and  to  temperance.  In 
this  appear  many  communications  from  those  who 
are,  or  have  been,  inmates.  We  make  a  few  selections 
from  some  of  these,  which  will  be  read  with  interest : 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  175 

"  When  I  came  into  the  Home,  mind,  memory, 
hope  and  energy  were  shattered.  The  only  anima- 
ting thought  remaining  to  me  was  a  misty  specula- 
tion as  to  where  the  next  drink  was  to  come  from. 
I  had  a  kind  of  feeble  perception  that  a  few  days 
more  of  the  life  I  was  leading  must  end  my  earthly 
career,  but  I  didn't  care.  As  to  the  '  hereafter' — 
that  might  take  care  of  itself;  I  had  no  energy  to 
make  any  provision  for  it. 

"To-day,  how  different!  A  new  man,  utterly 
defiant  of  the  devil  and  all  *  his  works  and  pomps,'  I 
am  ready  and  eager  to  take  my  place  once  more  in 
the  battle  of  life  ;  atone  for  the  miserable  time  gone 
by ;  to  take  again  the  place  in  the  world  I  had  for- 
feited, bearing  ever  in  my  breast  the  beautiful 
maxims  of  the  German  poet  and  philosopher,  Schil- 
ler :  '  Look  not  sorrowfully  into  the  past ;  it  comes 
not  back  again.  Wisely  improve  the  present ;  it  is 
thine.  Go  forth  to  meet  the  shadowy  future  with- 
out fear,  and  with  a  manly  heart.' ' 

Another  writes :  "  I  have  been  true  and  faithful 
to  my  promise,  and  have  not  touched  of  tampered 
with  the  curse  since  the  first  morning  I  entered  the 
Home,  ten  months  ago  to-day,  and,  Mr.  Superinten- 
dent, I  shall  never  drink  again  as  long  as  I  live. 
My  whole  trust  and  hope  is  in  God,  who  made  me 
live,  move  and  have  my  being ;  and  as  long  as  I 
trust  in  Him — and  which  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied 
I  always  shall — I  will  be  crowned  with  success  in 
each  and  every  good  effort  I  make.  *  *  *  The  day 


176         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

I  reached  here,  my  little  ones  were  out  of  town,  but 
were  telegraphed  for  at  once.  They  came  in  the 
next  morning,  and,  oh !  how  my  heart  rejoiced  to 
see  they  knew  and  loved  me.  They  came  to  my 
arms  and  threw  their  little  arms  around  my  neck, 
and  hugged  and  kissed  me  until  I  wept  with  joy. 
They  begged  of  me  never  to  leave  them  again,  and 
I  never  shall.  My  dear  father,  mother  and  all  now 
wish  me  to  stay  with  them,  for  they  feel  I  can  now 
be  as  great  a  comfort  as  I  once,  I  might  say,  was  a 
terror  to  them.  Thank  God,  I  can  prove  a  comfort 
to  them,  and  my  daily  life  shall  be  such  that  they 
never  can  do  without  me.  Praises  be  to  God  for 
His  goodness  and  mercy  to  me,  and  for  showing 
and  guiding  me  in  the  straight  path,  that  which 
leadeth,  at  last,  to  an  everlasting  life  with  Him  and 
His  redeemed  in  that  great  and  glorious  kingdom 
above." 

Another  writes,  two  years  after  leaving  the  Home: 
"  In  different  places  where  I  lived,  I  was  generally 
a  moving  spirit  in  everything  of  a  literary  charac- 
ter, and,  from  a  naturally  social,  convivial  disposi- 
tion, enjoyed  the  conversation  and  society  of  literary 
men  over  a  glass  of  beer  more  than  any  other  at- 
traction that  could  have  been  presented.  For  years, 
this  continued,  I,  all  the  time,  an  active  spirit  in 
whatever  church  I  was  a  member  of,  and  an  active 
worker  in  whatever  I  engaged  in,  thereby  always 
commanding  a  prominent  position  wherever  I  was. 
Thus  matters  progressed  till  I  was  about  twenty- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  177 

seven,  and  then  I  began  to  realize  my  position ;  but, 
alas,  when  it  was  too  late.  The  kindly  admonition  of 
friends  and  my  own  intelligence  began  to  tell  me 
the  story,  and  then  how  I  struggled  for  months  and 
months — a  naturally  sensitive  nature  only  making 
me  worse — till,  at  last,  the  conviction  forced  itself 
upon  me  that,  for  me  there  was  no  redemption,  that 
I  was  bound,  hand  and  foot,  perfectly  powerless, 
and  then  I  was  forced  to  accept  the  fact.  My  only 
desire  then  was  to  save  those  dear  to  me  from  any 
knowledge  of  the  truth ;  for  this  reason  I  chose 
Chicago  for  my  home.  Not  wishing  to  take  my  own 
life  in  my  hands,  I  was  simply  waiting  for  the  mo- 
ment when,  having  gone  lower  and  lower,  it  would, 
at  last,  please  God  to  relieve  me  of  my  earthly  suf- 
ferings. Oh !  the  mental  agonies  I  endured !  Too 
true  is  it  that  the  drunkard  carries  his  hell  around 
with  him.  At  any  moment  I  was  perfectly  willing 
to  die,  perfectly  willing  to  trust  whatever  might  be 
before  me  in  the  other  world,  feeling  it  could  be  no 
worse.  At  last,  by  God's  grace,  I  was  directed  to  the 
'  Washingtonian  Home,'  and  there,  for  the  first  time, 
I  learned  that  I  could  be  free;  and  in  this  knowledge 
lies  the  power  of  the  Home.  The  Home  took  hold  of 
me  and  bade  me  be  a  man,  and  directed  me  to  God 
for  help ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  told  me  to  work  out 
my  own  salvation.  Its  teachings  were  not  in  vain ;  and 
to-day  I  can  look  up  and  ask  God's  blessing  on  you 
all  for  your  kind  labors.  But  for  that  Home,  I 
should,  to-day,  have  been  filling  a  dishonored  grave." 


178         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER,-   OR, 

And  another  says :  "  It  is  now  over  five  years 
since  I  applied  to  Mr.  Drake  for  admission  to  the 
Home.  I  was  then  prostrated,  both  physically  and 
mentally,  to  that  degree  that  I  had  scarcely  strength 
to  drag  myself  along,  or  moral  courage  enough  to 
look  any  decent  man  in  the  face.  I  was  often  as- 
sured that  to  quit  whisky  would  kill  me.  I  thought 
there  was  a  probability  of  that ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  was  a  certainty  that  to  continue  it  would 
kill  me.  I  resolved  to  make  one  more  effort  and 
die  sober,  for  I  never  expected  to  live ;  had  no  hope 
of  that.  From  the  day  I  entered  the  Home  I  have 
been  a  changed  man.  The  encouragement  and 
counsel  I  received  there,  gave  me  strength  to  keep 
the  resolution  I  had  formed,  and  which  I  have 
kept  to  the  present  moment,  viz:  TO  DRIXK  NO  MORE: 
Ever  since  I  left  Chicago,  I  have  held  a  respectable 
position ;  and  now  hold  the  principal  position  in  a 
house  of  business,  the  doors  of  which  I  was  forbid- 
den to  enter  six  years  ago.  I  do  not  write  this  in 
any  spirit  of  self-laudation,  bu-t  simply  to  lay  the 
honor  where  it  belongs — at  the  door  of  the  *  Wash- 
ingtonian  Home.' ' 

The  following  from  the  "  experience  "  of  one  of 
the  inmates  of  the  Chicago  "  Home,"  will  give  the 
reader  an  idea  of  the  true  character  of  this  and 
similar  institutions,  and  of  the  way  in  which  those 
who  become  inmates  are  treated.  A  lady  who  took 
an  interest  in  the  writer,  had  said  to  him,  "You  had 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  179 

better  go  to  the  Washingtonian  Home."     What  fol- 
lowed is  thus  related : 

HOW  I  WAS  TREATED  IN  THE  HOME. 

"  I  looked  at  her  in  surprise.  Send  me  to  a  re- 
formatory ?  I  told  her  that  I  did  not  think  that  I 
\v;is  sunk  so  low,  or  bound  so  fast  in  the  coils  of  the 
'  worm  of  the  still,'  that  it  was  necessary  for  me,  a 
young  man  not  yet  entered  into  the  prime  of  man- 
hood, to  be  confined  in  a  place  designed  for  the  cure 
of  habitual  drunkards.  I  had  heard  vague  stories, 
but  nothing  definite  concerning  the  Home,  and 
thought  that  the  question  was  an  insult,  but  I  did 
not  reply  to  the  question.  All  that  night  my 
thoughts  would  revert  to  the  above  question.  My 
life  past  since  I  had  become  a  devotee  of  the 
'  demon  of  strong  drink/  passed  hi  review  before 
my  mind.  What  had  I  gained ?  How  improved? 
What  had  I  obtained  by  it  ?  And  the  answer  was 
nothing.  Then  I  asked  myself,  What  had  I  lost 
by  it  ?  And  the  answer  came  to  me  with  crushing 
force,  everything  that  maketh  life  desirable.  Start- 
ing out  young  in  years  into  the  busy  highways  of 
the  world,  with  a  good  fortune,  bright  prospects  and 
a  host  of  friends  to  aid  and  cheer  me  on,  I  had  lost 
ALL  in  my  love  for  strong  drink,  and  at  times  I 
thought  and  felt  that  I  was  a  modern  Ishmael. 

"  The  lady,  the  next  morning,  again  returned  to 
the  attack,  and  then,  not  thinking  it  an  insult,  but 
a  benefit,  to  be  conferred  on  me,  I  yielded  a  willing 


180         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

acquiescence.     That  same  evening,  with  a  slow  step 
and  aching  head,  I  walked  up  Madison  Street  to- 
wards the  Washingtonian  Home,  with  thoughts  that 
I  would  be  considered  by  the  officers  of  the  institu- 
tion as  a  sort  of  a  felon,  or,  if  not  that,  at  least 
something  very  near  akin  to  the  brute,  and  it  was 
with  a  sinking  heart  that  I  pushed  open  the  main 
door  and  ascended  the  broad,  easy  stairs  to  the  office. 
I  asked  if  the  superintendent  was  in,  and  the  gen- 
tlemanly clerk  at  the  desk  told  me  that  he  was,  and 
would  be  down  immediately,  meanwhile  telling  me 
to  be  seated.     After  the  lapse  of  a  few  minutes,  the 
superintendent,  Mr.  Wilkins,  came  into  the  office, 
his  countenance  beaming  with  benevolence.      He 
took  the  card  that  I  had  brought  with  me,  read  it, 
and,  turning  round  to  where  I  sat,  with  a  genial 
smile  lighting  up  his  countenance,  with  outstretched 
hand,  greeted  me  most  kindly  and  introduced  me  to 
the  gentlemen  present.     I  was  dumbfounded,  and 
it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  I  restrained  myself 
from  shedding  tears.     It  was  the  very  opposite  of 
the  reception  that  I  had  pictured  that  I  would  re- 
ceive, and  I  found  that  I  was  to  be  treated  as  a  hu- 
man being  and  not  as  a  brute.     With  a  smile,  the 
superintendent  addressed  me  again,  and  told  me  to 
follow  him ;  and  it  was  with  a  lighter  heart  and 
spirits  that  I  ascended  the  second  flight  of  stairs 
than  the  first,  I  can  assure  you.     I  was  brought  to 
the  steward,  who  also  greeted  me  most  kindly,  con- 
versed with  me  a  short  time,  fixed  up  some  medi- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

cine  for  me  and  then  took  me  into  the  hospital.  By 
the  word  '  hospital/  dear  reader,  you  must  not  take 
the  usual  definition  of  all  that  word  implies,  but  in 
this  case,  take  it  as  a  moderate-sized  room  with  eight 
or  nine  beds,  covered  with  snow-white  sheets  and 
coverlids,  and  filled  with  air  of  the  purest ;  no  sickly 
smells  or  suffering  pain  to  offend  the  njost  delicate. 

"After  a  most  refreshing  night's  rest — the  first 
that  I  had  had  in  three  or  four  long,  weary  months — 
I  arose,  and  for  a  few  moments  could  not  realize 
where  I  was,  but  memory  came  back,  and  I  fell  on 
my  knees  and  gave  thanks  to  God  that  I  had  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  the  *  Good  Samaritans/  After 
breakfast,  I  went  with  great  diffidence  into  the 
common  sitting-room,  where  there  was  about  ten  of 
the  inmates  sitting  smoking,  playing  checkers,  etc. 
I  did  not  know  how  I  would  be  received  here,  but 
as  soon  as  I  entered  I  was  greeted  most  kindly  and 
told  to  make  myself  at  home.  It  seemed  as  if  my 
cup  was  full  and  running  over,  and  for  a  few  mo- 
ments I  could  scarcely  speak,  and  I  thought  that 
the  institution's  motto  must  be  founded  on  the 
Saviour's  command  to  'Love  one  another.' 

"  The  first  day  I  was  not  allowed  to  go  down  to 
the  dining-room,  I  still  being  under  the  care  of  the 
hospital  steward.  The  second  day  I  was  discharged 
from  the  hospital,  assigned  a  most  comfortable  and 
cheerful  furnished  bed-room,  and  allowed  the  liberty 
of  the  whole  building,  and  the  day  passed  pleasantly. 
The  next  morning,  at  about  six,  I  was  awakened  by 


182          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

the  clangor  of  a  bell  shaken  by  a  vigorous  arm. 
Hurriedly  dressing,  I  descended  to  the  wash-room 
and  performed  my  ablutions,  and  then  waited  for 
the  next  step.  Half  an  hour  having  elapsed,  the 
bell  was  rung  a  second  time,  and  we  all  entered 
what  is  called  the  service-room.  Shortly  after  Mr. 
Wilkins  and  his  family  entered ;  the  superintendent 
read  a  chapter  of  the  Bible,  the  inmates  sung  a 
hymn,  accompanied  on  the  organ  by  Miss  Clara 
Wilkins ;  after  a  short  prayer,  the  inmates  marched 
in  single  file  to  the  head  of  the  room,  where  Mr. 
Wilkins  stood,  his  kind  face  actually  beaming,  and 
with  extended  hand  greeted  every  individual  in- 
mate. After  leaving  him  we  marched  to  the  other 
side  of  the  room,  where  we  also  received  a  cheery 
'  good  morning/  and  cordial  grasp  of  the  hand  from 
the  estimable  and  motherly  wife  of  the  superin- 
tendent. To  describe  one  day  is  sufficient  to  picture 
the  manner  in  which  the  inmates  of  the  Home  (and 
I  sincerely  believe  that  '  home'  is  the  right  designa- 
tion for  it)  pass  their  time.  I  have  never  felt  hap- 
pier or  more  contented  even  in  my  most  prosperous 
days  than  I  have  in  these  few  short  days  that  I  have 
been  an  inmate  of  the  Washingtonian  Home." 

In  this  institution,  according  to  the  last  annual 
report,  two  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-two 
persons  have  been  treated  since  it  was  opened.  Of 
these,  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighteen,  or 
over  sixty  per  cent.,  are  said  to  have  remained  sober, 
or  nearly  so,  up  to  this  time.  During  the  last  year 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  133 

two  hundred  and  fifty-eight  patients  were  under 
treatment  (one-third  free  patients).  Of  these  only 
thirty  had  relapsed,  the  others  giving  great  promise 
of  recovery. 

The  Philadelphia  institution,  known  as  the 
"  FRANKLIN  REFORMATORY  HOME  I-OR  INEBIATES," 
has  been  in  existence  over  five  years.  It  was  or- 
ganized in  April,  1872.  In  this  institution  intem- 
perance is  not  regarded  as  a  disease,  which  may  be 
cured  through  hygienic  or  medical  treatment,  but 
as  a  sin,  which  must  be  repented  of,  resisted  and 
overcome  through  the  help  of  God.  In  order  to 
place  the  inebriate,  who  honestly  desires  to  reform 
and  lead  a  better  life,  under  conditions  most  favor- 
able to  this  work  of  inner  reformation  and  true 
recovery,  all  the  external  associations  and  comforts 
of  a  pleasant  home  are  provided,  as  with  the  two 
institutions  whose  record  of  good  results  has  just 
been  made.  Its  administrative  work  and  home-life 
vary  but  little  from  that  of  the  Homes  in  Boston 
and  Chicago.  But  it  is  differenced  from  them  and 
other  institutions  which  have  for  their  aim  the  cure 
of  inebriety,  in  its  rejection  of  the  disease  theory, 
and  sole  reliance  on  moral  and  spiritual  agencies  in 
the  work  of  saving  men  from  the  curse  of  drink. 
It  says  to  its  inmates,  this  appetite  for  drink  is  not 
a  disease  that  medicine  can  cure,  or  change,  or 
eradicate.  New  sanitary  conditions,  removal  from 
temptations,  more  favorable  surroundings,  congenial 
occupation,  improved  health,  a  higher  self-res  j;ect, 


184          ORAPrLING  WITH  THE  MOSSTER;    OR, 

a  sense  of  honor  and  responsibility,  and  the  tender- 
ness and  strength  of  love  for  wife  and  children,  may 
be  powerful  enough  as  motives  to  hold  you  always 
in  the  future  above  its  enticements.  But,  trusting 
in  these  alone,  you  can  never  dwell  in  complete 
safety.  You  need  a  deeper  work  of  cure  than  it  is 
possible  for  you  to  obtain  from  any  earthly  physi- 
cian. Only  God  can  heal  you  of  this  infirmity. 

A  KELiGIOUS  HOME. 

While  never  undervaluing  external  influences, 
and  always  using  the  best  means  in  their  power  to 
make  their  institution  a  home  in  all  that  the  word  im- 
plies, the  managers  have  sought  to  make  it  distinct- 
ively something  more — a  religious  home.  They  rely 
for  restoration  chiefly  on  the  reforming  and  regener- 
ating power  of  Divine  grace.  Until  a  man  is  brought 
under  spiritual  influences,  they  do  not  regard  him 
as  in  safety ;  and  the  result  of  their  work  so  far  only 
confirms  them  in  this  view.  They  say,  that  in 
almost  every  case  where  an  inmate  has  shown  him- 
self indifferent,  or  opposed  to  the  religious  influences 
of  the  Home,  he  has,  on  leaving  it,  relapsed,  after  a 
short  period,  into  intemperance,  while  the  men  who 
have  stood  firm  are  those  who  have  sought  help 
from  God,  and  given  their  lives  to  His  service. 

Under  this  view,  which  has  never  been  lost  sight 
of  from  the  beginning,  in  the  work  of  the  "  Franklin 
Home,"  and  which  is  always  urged  upon  those  who 
Beek  its  aid  in  their  efforts  to  reform  their  lives, 


HIE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  185 

there  has  come  to  be  in  the  institution  a  pervading 
sentiment  favorable  to  a  religions  life  as  the  only 
safe  life,  and  all  who  are  brought  within  the  sphere 
of  its  influence  soon  become  impressed  with  the  fact. 
And  it  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  hopeful  of 
signs  when  the  new  inmate  is  drawn  into  accord 
with  this  sentiment,  and  as  a  most  discouraging  one 
if  he  sets  himself  in  opposition  thereto. 

WHO  ARE  RECEIVED  INTO  "THE  FRANKLIN  HOME." 

As  in  other  institutions,  the  managers  of  this  one 
have  had  to  gain  wisdom  from  experience.  They 
have  learned  that  there  is  a  class  of  drinking  men 
for  whom  efforts  at  recovery  are  almost  useless ;  and 
from  this  class  they  rarely  now  take  any  one  into 
the  Home.  Men  of  known  vicious  or  criminal 
lives  are  not  received.  Nor  are  the  friends  of  such 
as  indulge  in  an  occasional  drunken  debauch  per- 
mitted to  send  them  there  for  temporary  seclusion. 
None  are  admitted  but  men  of  good  character,  in  all 
but  intemperance ;  and  these  must  be  sincere  and 
earnest  in  their  purpose  to  reform.  The  capacity 
of  an  institution  in  which  the  care,  and  service,  and 
protection  of  a  home  can  be  given,  is  too  small  for 
mere  experiment  or  waste  of  effort.  There  are  too 
many  who  are  anxious,  through  the  means  offered 
in  a  place  like  this,  to  break  the  chains  of  a  de- 
basing habit,  and  get  back  their  lost  manhood  once 
more,  to  waste  effort  on  the  evil-minded  and  morally 
depraved,  who  only  seek  a  temporary  asylum  and 


186         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

the  opportunity  for  partial  recovery,  but  with  no 
purpose  of  becoming  better  men  and  better  citizens. 
Apart  from  the  fruitlessness  of  all  attempts  to  per- 
manently restore  such  men  to  sobriety,  it  has  beeii 
found  that  their  presence  in  the  Home  has  had  an 
injurious  effect ;  some  having  been  retarded  in  re- 
covery through  their  influence,  and  others  led  away 
into  vicious  courses. 

There  is  a  chapel  in  the  building,  capable  of 
holding  over  two  hundred  person  In  this,  Divine 
worship  is  held  every  Sunday  afternoon.  A  minis- 
ter from  some  one  of  the  churches  is  usually  in 
attendance  to  preach  and  conduct  the  services.  It 
rarely  happens  that  the  chapel  is  not  well  filled 
with  present  and  former  inmates  of  the  Home,  their 
wives,  children  and  friends.  Every  evening,  at 
half-past  nine  o'clock,  there  is  family  prayer  in  the 
chapel,  and  every  Sunday  afternoon  the  president, 
Mr.  S.  P.  Godwin,  has  a  class  for  Bible  study  and 
instruction  in  the  same  place.  On  Tuesday  even- 
ings there  is  a  conversational  temperance  meeting ; 
and  on  Thursday  evening  of  each  week  the  Godwin 
Association,  organized  for  mutual  help  and  encour- 
agement, holds  a  meeting  in  the  chapel. 

USE  OF  TOBACCO  DISCOURAGED. 

The  attending  physician,  Dr.  Robert  P.  Harris, 
having  given  much  thought  and  observation  to  the 
effects  of  tobacco  on  the  physical  system,  and  its 
connection  with  inebriety,  discourages  its  use  among 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  j_oy 

the  inmates,  doing  all  in  his  power,  by  advice 
and  admonition,  to  lead  them  to  abandon  a  habit 
that  not  only  disturbs  and  weakens  the  nervous 
forces,  but  too  often  produces  that  very  condition  of 
nervous  exhaustion  which  leads  the  sufferer  to  resort 
to  stimulation.  In  many  cases  where  men,  after 
leaving  the  "  Home,"  have  stood  firm  for  a  longer 
or  shorter  period  of  time,  and  then,  relapsing  into 
intemperance,  have  again  sought  its  help  in  a  new 
effort  at  reformation,  he  has  been  able  to  find  the 
cause  of  their  fall  in  an  excessive  use  of  tobacco. 

Dr.  Harris  is  well  assured,  from  a  long  study  of 
the  connection  between  the  use  of  tobacco  and  alco- 
hol, that,  in  a  very  large  number  of  cases  tobacco 
has  produced  the  nervous  condition  which  led  to 
inebriety.  And  he  is  satisfied  that,  if  men  who  are 
seeking  to  break  away  from  the  slavery  of  drink, 
will  give  up  their  tobacco  and  their  whisky  at  the 
same  time,  they  will  find  the  work  easier,  and  their 
ability  to  stand  by  their  good  resolutions,  far  greater. 
See  the  next  chapter  for  a  clear  and  concise  state- 
ment, from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Harris,  of  the  effects  of 
tobacco,  and  the  obstacles  its  use  throws  in  the  way 
of  men  who  are  trying  to  reform. 

WHAT  HAS  BEEN  ACCOMPLISHED. 

The  results  of  the  work  done  in  this  "  Home"  are 
of  the  most  satisfactory  kind.  From  the  fifth  annual 
report,  we  learn  that  there  have  been  received  into 
the  Home,  since  its  commencement,  seven  hundred 


188         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

and  forty-one  persons.  Of  these,  the  report  given 
three  hundred  and  fifty-four  as  reformed,  and  one 
hundred  and  three  as  benefited.  Two  hundred  and 
ninety-seven  were  free  patients. 

WOMAN'S  WORK  IN  THE  HOME. 

In  the  management  of  this  Home  there  is,  beside 
the  board  of  directors,  an  auxiliary  board  of  twenty- 
six  lady  managers,  who  supervise  the  work  of  the 
Home,  and  see  to  its  orderly  condition  and  the 
comfort  of  the  inmates.  Through  visiting  and 
relief  committees  the  families  of  such  of  the  inmates 
as  need  temporary  care  and  assistance  are  seen,  and 
such  help  and  counsel  given  as  may  be  required. 
An  extract  or  two  from  the  reports  of  this 
auxiliary  board  will  not  only  give  an  idea  of  the 
religious  influences  of  the  institution,  but  of  what  is. 
being  done  by  the  woman's  branch  of  the  work. 
Says  the  secretary,  Mrs.  E.  M.  Gregory,  in  her  last 
animal  report: 

"  The  religious  influence  exerted  by  this  institu- 
tion by  means  of  its  Sunday  evening  services,  its 
Bible  class  and  its  frequent  temperance  meetings, 
which  are  cordially  open  to  all,  is  silently,  but,  we 
think,  surely  making  itself  felt  among  those  brought 
within  its  reach,  and  establishing  the  highest  and 
strongest  bond  among  those  whose  natural  ties  are 
often  unhappily  severed  by  intemperance.  We  find 
v\hole  families,  long  unused  to  any  religious  observ- 
ance, now  regularly,  for  years,  accompanying  the 


THE  CUESE  AND  THE  CURE.  IgQ 

husband  and  father  to  this  place  of  worship,  and 
joining  devoutly  in  the  exercises. 

"  Especial  emphasis  is  laid  upon  the  doctrine  that 
the  only  foundation  for  a  thorough,  enduring  re- 
formation is  found  in  a  radical  change  of  heart,  a 
preparation  for  the  future  life  by  a  conscientious, 
persistent  effort  to  lead  a  Christ-like  life  here, 

"  One  result  of  this  teaching  is  found  in  the  fact 
that  several  of  the  inmates,  not  in  the  first  pleasant 
excitement  of  their  rescue  from  the  immediate'  hor- 
rors of  their  condition,  but  after  long  and  faithful 
observance  of  their  pledge  and  constant  attendance 
upon  the  religious  instruction  of  the  Home,  have 
voluntarily  and  with  solemn  resolve  united  them- 
selves to  some  Christian  church,  and  are  devoting  a 
large  share  of  their  time  and  means  to  the  work  of 
bringing  in  their  old  companions  to  share  this  great 
salvation.  When,  in  our  visits  among  their  fami- 
lies, we  hear  of  those  who  formerly  spent  all  their 
earnings  at  the  saloon,  bringing  nothing  but  distress 
and  terror  into  their  homes,  now  walking  the  streets 
all  day  in  search  of  work,  without  dinner  themselves, 
because  the  '  wife  and  children  need  what  little  there 
is  in  the  house  ;'  and  another,  not  only  denying  him- 
self a  reasonable  share  of  the  scanty  food,  but  nursing 
a  sick  wife  and  taking  entire  care  of  the  children 
and  house,  hastening  out,  when  relieved  awhile  by 
a  kindly  neighbor,  to  do  '  anything  to  bring  in  a 
little  money' — when  we  see  changes  like  these,  ac- 
companied by  patience  and  cheerfulness,  and  a  grow- 


100         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

ing  sense  of  personal  responsibility,  we  thankfully 
accept  them  as  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  the  work 
and  hopefully  look  for  its  continuance." 

TOUCHING  INCIDENTS. 

In  a  previous  report,  speaking  of  the  visits  made 
to  the  families  of  inmates,  she  says : 

"  In  no  case  has  a  visit  ever  been  received  with- 
out expression  of  absolute  pleasure,  and  especially 
gratitude,  for  '  what  the  Home  has  done  for  me  and 
mine/ 

"Although,  unhappily,  there  are  instances  of  men 
having,  through  stress  of  temptation,  violated  their 
pledges,  it  is  believed  that  not  one  case  has  occurred 
of  a  family,  once  brought  together  through  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Home,  again  being  separated  by  the 
return  to  intemperance  of  the  husband  and  father, 
and  the  results  of  their  faithfulness  are  to  be  seen  in 
the  growing  comfort  and  happiness  of  those  de- 
pendent on  them. 

"An  aged  mother,  not  only  bowed  down  with  the 
weight  of  seventy  years,  but  heart-sick  with  the 
'  hope  deferred'  of  ever  finding  her  intemperate  son, 
heard  of  him  at  last,  as  rescued  by  the  Home;  and, 
being  brought  to  the  Sunday  and  evening  services, 
met  him  there, '  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind.'  The 
tears  streamed  down  her  face,  as  she  said :  '  That 
man  is  forty  years  old,  and  I've  been  a  widow  ever 
since  he  was  a  baby,  and  I've  wept  over  him  often 
and  often,  and  to-day  I've  shed  tears  enough  to  bathe 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

him  from  head  to  foot,  but,  oh !  thank  the  Lord ! 
these  are  such  happy  tears !' 

"  Said  one  wife :  '  Some  days,  these  hard  times, 
we  have  enough  to  eat,  and  some  days  we  don't; 
but  all  the  time  I'm  just  as  happy  as  I  can  be ! 

u  '  I  wish  you  could  see  my  children  run,  laugh- 
ing, to  the  door  when  their  father  comes  home.  Oh ! 
he  is  another  man  from  what  he  was  a  year  ago ; 
he  is  so  happy  at  home  with  us  now,  and  always  so 
patient  and  kind ! 

"  '  Do  tell  us  if  there  isn't  something — if  it  is  ever 
so  little — that  we  women  can  do  for  the  Home ;  we 
never  can  forget  what  it  has  done  for  us !' 

"  Such  words,  heard  again  and  again  with  every 
variety  of  expression,  attests  the  sincerity  of  those 
who,  in  widely  differing  circumstances,  perhaps, 
have  yet  this  common  bond,  that  through  this  in> 
strumentality,  they  are  rejoicing. over  a  husband,  a 
father,  a  son,  '  which  was  dead,  and  is  alive — was 
lost,  and  is  found.' 

"  Surely,  such  proof  of  the  intrinsic  worth  of  a 
work  like  this,  is  beyond  all  expression — full  o/ 
comfort  and  encouragement  to  persevere." 

Again :  "  Through  their  instrumentality  families 
long  alienated  and  separated  have  been  happily 
brought  together.  This  branch  of  the  ladies'  work 
has  been  peculiarly  blest ;  and  their  reward  is  rich 
in  witnessing  not  only  homes  made  happier  through 
their  labors,  but  hearts  so  melted  by  their  personal 
kindness,  and  by  the  Gospel  message  which  they 


192         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

carry,  that  husbands  and  wives,  convicted  of  the 
sinfulness  of  their  neglect  of  the  great  salvation, 
come  forward  to  declare  themselves  soldiers  of  the 
cross,  and  unite  with  the  Christian  church." 

THE  TESTIMONY  OF  INMATES. 

As  the  value  of  this  and  similar  institutions  is 
best  seen  in  what  they  have  clone  and  are  doing,  we 
give  two  extracts  from  letters  received  from  men 
who  have  been  reformed  through  the  agency  of  the 
"Home"  in  Philadelphia.  In  the  first,  the  writer 
says: 

"  It  has  now  been  nearly  two  years  since  I  left  the 
Franklin  Home.  I  had  been  a  drinking  man  ten 
years,  and  it  got  such  a  hold  on  me  that  I  could  not 
resist  taking  it.  I  had  tried  a  number  of  times  to 
reform,  and  at  one  time,  was  in  the  Dashaway's 
Home,  in  California,  where  they  steep  everything 
in  liquor,  but  when  I  came  out  I  still  had  the  desire 
to  drink,  and  only  kept  from  it  for  nine  months.  I 
again  commenced,  and  kept  sinking  lower  and  lower, 
till  I  lost  my  friends,  and  felt  there  was  no  hope  for 
me.  On  the  31st  day  of  May,  1873,  I  came  to  the 
Franklin  Home,  and  have  never  tasted  intoxicating 
liquor  since,  which  is  the  longest  time  I  was  ever 
without  it  since  I  commenced  to  drink.  I  feel  now 
that  I  will  never  drink  again,  as  I  do  not  associate 
with  drinking  men,  or  go  to  places  where  liquor  is 
sold.  It  was  so  different  at  the  Home  from  any- 
thing I  had  ever  met  or  heard  of,  that  I  went  away 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

with  more  strength  to  resist  than  ever  before.  When 
I  came  to  the  Home  I  could  not  get  a  position  in 
Philadelphia,  nobody  having  confidence  in  me. 
Since  then  I  have  been  engaged  as  foreman  in  a 
manufacturing  establishment,  by  the  very  man  that 
had  discharged  me  several  times  for  drinking,  and 
have  been  with  him  a  year.  I  feel  more  happy  and 
contented  now  than  any  time  in  ten  years  past,  and 
if  I  had  a  friend  who  I  found  this  was  taking  hold 
of,  I  would  bring  him  to  the  Home,  for  I  believe 
any  one  that  is  sincere  can  be  reformed,  and  I  would 
recommend  any  man  that  needs  and  desires  to  re- 
form to  go  to  the  Home,  as  I  did." 

AFTER  FIVE  YEARS. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Samuel  P.  Godwin,  President  of 
the  Franklin  Home,  an  old  inmate,  five  years  after 
his  reformation,  says :  "  I  received  your  kind  letter 
and  recognized  in  it  the  challenge  of  the  ever- 
watchful  sentinel,  'How  goes  the  night,  brother?' 
I  answer  back,  'All  is  well.'  I  am  delighted  to  hear 
of  the  continued  success  of  '  my  second  mother,'  the 
Home,  and  the  Association,  my  brothers;  and  I 
thank  God,  who  is  encouraging  you  all  in  your 
efforts  for  fallen  men,  by  showing  you  the  ripening 
fruits  of  your  labor — efforts  and  labors  that  are  in- 
spired by  a  love  of  God  that  enables  you  to  see  in 
every  fallen  man  the  soul  made  like  unto  His  own 
image.  The  Home  and  all  its  workers,  its  princi- 
ples, the  endless  and  untiring  efforts  made,  challenge 


194         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

the  wonder  and  admiration  of  every  Christian  heart, 
Its  grand  results  will  admit  of  but  one  explanation, 
that '  It  is  God's  work.'  We,  the  reclaimed,  can 
never  give  expression  to  the  grateful  emotions  of  our 
hearts.  We  can  only  let  our  lives  be  its  best  eulogy. 
We  hope  to  vindicate  in  the  future,  as  we  have  in 
the  past,  (by  adhering  to  its  principles)  the  great 
Christian  truth,  the  grace  of  God  is  all-powerful,  all- 
saving.  Oh  !  what  has  not  the  Home  done  for  us  all! 
It  sought  us  amid  temptations,  misery  and  sorrow,  and 
took  us  into  its  warm  and  fond  embrace,  clearing 
away  the  debris  that  intemperance  and  misfortune 
had  piled  up,  tearing  down  all  false  theories  of  dis- 
ease and  seizing  our  convictions.  It  reached  down 
into  our  hearts  by  its  admirable  practical  mode  of 
imparting  its  principles,  impressing  all  its  lessons 
with  the  examples  of  living,  active  men,  who, 
through  its  aid,  accepting  its  teachings  and  practic- 
ing them,  have  become  reformed  men — in  a  word, 
conquerors  of  self.  By  its  love,  fostering  care  and 
ever-watchful  solicitude  for  us,  it  has  awakened  the 
lessons  of  love  and  faith  learned  at  a  dear  mother's 
knee  in  childhood,  which,  if  forgotten  for  a  time, 
were  never  entirely  dead,  and  required  but  just  such 
an  influence  to  warm  them  into  life.  It  enables  me 
to  say  to  you  now,  at  the  end  of  five  years,  I  have 
been  a  total  abstinence  man  for  that  time,  and  by 
and  with  the  help  of  God,  I  will  die  that." 

But  enough  has  been  educed  to  show  the  import- 
ance of  this  and  other  "  Homes  "  for  the  recovery 


THE  CURSE  AXD  THE  CURE        195 

of  inebriates,  and  to  direct  public  attention  to  their 
great  value.  Those  already  established  should  be 
liberally  sustained  by  the  communities  in  which 
they  are  located,  and  similar  institutions  should  be 
organized  and  put  in  operation  in  all  the  larger 
cities  of  the  Union.  Thousands  of  outcast,  helpless, 
perishing  men,  who,  but  for  the  fatal  habits  they  have 
acquired,  would  be  good  and  useful  citizens,  might, 
it'  this  were  done,  be  every  year  restored  to  them- 
selves, their  families  and  to  society.  If  we  cannot, 
as  yet,  stay  the  curse  that  is  upon  our  land,  let  us 
do  all  in  our  power  to  heal  what  has  been  hurt,  and 
to  restore  what  has  been  lost. 

In  every  truly  reformed  man,  the  temperance 
cause  gains  a  new  and  valuable  recruit.  The  great 
army  that  is  to  do  successful  battle  with  the  destroy- 
ing enemy  that  is  abroad  in  the  land,  will  come 
chiefly  from  the  ranks  of  those  who  have  felt  the 
crush  of  his  iron  heel.  So  we  gain  strength  with 
every  prisoner  that  is  rescued  from  the  enemy ;  for 
every  such  rescued  man  will  hate  this  enemy  with 
an  undying  hatred,  and  so  long  as  he  maintains  his 
integrity,  stand  fronting  him  in  the  field. 

Dr.  Harris,  the  attending  physician  of  the 
"  Franklin  Reformatory  Home,"  whose  long  expe- 
rience and  careful  observation  enable  him  to  speak 
intelligently  as  to  the  causes  which  lead  to  relapses 
among  reformed  men,  has  kindly  furnished  us  with 
the  following  suggestions  as  to  the  dangers  that  be- 
set their  way.  The  doctor  has  done  a  good  service 


196         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

in  this.  To  be  forewarned  is  to  be  forearmed.  "We 
are  also  indebted  to  him  for  the  chapter  on  "  To- 
bacco as  an  Incitant  to  the  Use  of  Alcoholic  Stimu- 
lant," which  immediately  follows  this  one,  and 
which  was  especially  prepared  by  him  for  the  pre- 
sent volume. 

DANGERS  THAT  BESET  THE  REFORMED  INEBRIATE. 

BY   DR.   R.    P.    HARRIS. 

"Come,  take  a  drink" — How  pernicious  is  this 
treating  generosity  of  the  inebriate,  and  how  im- 
portant to  the  reformed  to  be  firm  in  declining  his 
invitation.  To  hesitate,  is,  in  most  cases,  to  yield. 

Old  companions. — These  should  be  avoided,  and 
made  to  understand  that  their  company  is  not  con- 
genial ;  and  new  and  safe  ones  should  be  selected. 

Attacks  of  sickness. — A  quondam  inebriate  should 
never  employ  a  physician  who  drinks,  and  should 
always  tell  his  medical  attendant  that  he  cannot 
take  any  medicine  containing  alcohol.  It  is  very 
unsafe  to  resort  to  essence  of  ginger,  paregoric, 
spirits  of  lavender  or  burnt  brandy,  and  friends 
very  injudiciously,  sometimes,  recommend  remedies 
that  are  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  We  saw  one 
man  driven  into  insanity  by  his  employer  recom- 
mending him  a  preparation  of  rhubarb,  in  Jamaica 
spirits,  which  he  took  with  many  misgivings,  be- 
cause, six  years  before  he  had  been  a  drunkard. 
The  old  appetite  was  revived  in  full  force  at  once. 
Diarrhoea  can  be  much  better  treated  without  tine- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

tures  and  essences  than  with  them,  as  proved  by 
the  large  experience  of  the  Franklin  Home,  where 
they  are  never  prescribed. 

Bad  company  of  either  sex. — Remember  what  is 
said  of  the  strange  woman  in  Proverbs  v.,  3-12 ; 
and  the  advice  given  in  the  first  Psalm.  Lust  has 
driven  to  drunkenness  and  death  many  a  promising 
case  of  reform. 

Entering  a  tavern. — It  is  never  safe  to  buy  a 
cigar,  take  a  glass  of  lemonade,  eat  a  plate  of 
oysters  or  even  drink  water  at  a  bar  where  liquors 
are  sold.  The  temptation,  and  revival  of  old  associa- 
tions, are  too  much  for  weak  human  nature  to  with- 
stand. 

Politics,  military  organizations,  etc. — Many  a 
man  has  been  made  a  drunkard  by  the  war,  or  by 
becoming  an  active  politician.  Associations  of  men 
leading  to  excitement  of  any  kind  stimulate  them  to 
invite  each  other  to  drink  as  a  social  custom.  For- 
mer inebriates  should  avoid  all  forms  of  excitement. 
Said  a  former  politician,  who  has  not  drank  for  five 
years :  "  If  I  was  to  go  back  to  politics,  and  allow 
matters  to  take  their  natural  course,  I  should  soon 
drift  again  into  drunkenness." 

"Idleness"  says  the  French  proverb,  "is  the 
mother  of  all  vices ;"  hence  the  advantage  and  im- 
portance of  being  actively  employed. 

Working  in  communities. — There  are  no  men 
more  inclined  to  drunkenness  than  shoemakers, 
hatters  and  those  in  machine  shops.  Shoemakers 


198         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

are  especially  difficult  to  reform,  as  they  incite  each 
other  to  drink,  and  club  together  and  send  out  for 
beer  or  whisky. 

Use  of  excessive  quantities  of  pepper,  mustard 
and  horse-radish. — No  person  can  use  biting  condi- 
ments to  the  same  degree  as  drunkards;  and  re- 
formed men  must  largely  moderate  their  allowance, 
if  they  expect  to  keep  their  appetite  under  for  some- 
thing stronger.  Tavern-keepers  understand  that 
salt  and  peppery  articles,  furnished  gratis  for  lunch, 
will  pay  back  principal  and  profit  in  the  amount 
they  induce  men  to  drink. 

Loss  of  money  or  death  in  the  family. — These 
are  among  the  most  severe  of  all  the  trials  to  be  en- 
countered by  the  reformed  drunkard.  Hazardous 
ventures  in  stocks  or  business  are  dangerous  in  the 
extreme.  Without  the  grace  of  God  in  the  heart, 
and  the  strength  that  it  gives  in  times  of  depression 
of  spirits  under  severe  trial,  there  are  few  reformed 
men  who  can  bear,  with  any  safety,  the  loss  of  a 
wife  or  very  dear  child.  Thousands  who  have,  for 
the  time,  abandoned  the  habit  have  returned  to  it 
to  drown,  in  unconsciousness,  their  feeling  of  loss; 
hence  the  great  and  vital  importance  of  an  entire 
change  of  heart  to  enable  a  man  to  go  to  his  faith 
for  consolation,  and  to  look  to  God  for  help  in  times 
of  trial  and  temptation. 


BOYHOOD. 
The  First  Step. 


YOUTH. 
The  Second  Step. 


MANHOOD. 
A  Confirmed  Drunkard. 


OLD  AGE. 
A  Total  Wreck. 


CHAPTER  X. 

TOBACCO  AS  AX  INCFTANT  TO  THE  USE  OF  ALCOHOLIC 
STIMULANTS,  AND  AN  OBSTACLE  IN  THE  WAY 
'  OF  A  PERMANENT  REFORMATION. 

BY   DR.  R.  P.  HARRIS,  PHYSICIAN   OP  THE  "  FRANKLIN   REFORMATORY 

HOME." 

WHEN  we  consider  the  almost  universal  use  of 
tobacco,  especially  in  the  form  of  smoking, 
among  our  male  population,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at  that  this  powerful  poison  has  come  to  be  regarded 
as  an  innocent  and  almost  necessary  vegetable  pro- 
duction, not  to  be  used  as  food  exactly,  but  greatly 
allied  to  it  as  an  article  of  daily  consumption.  Few 
stop  to  reason  about  its  properties  or  effects ;  they 
remember,  perhaps,  how  sick  they  were  made  by 
the  first  chew  or  smoke,  but  this  having  long  passed, 
believe  that  as  their  systems  have  become  accus- 
tomed, apparently,  to  the  poison,  it  cannot  be  doing 
them  any  real  injury.  When  we  reflect  that  tobacco 
contains  from  one  to  nearly  seven  per  cent,  of  nico- 
tine— one  of  the  most  powerful  vegetable  poisons 
known — a  few  drops  of  which  are  sufficient  to  de- 
stroy life,  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  that  this 
faith  in  the  innocence  begotten  of  use  must  be  fal- 
lacious. We  have  met  with  instances  where  tue 

201 


202         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

poisonous  effects  of  tobacco  were  manifest  after  every 
smoke,  even  where  the  attempt  to  accustom  tlie  sys- 
tem to  its  use  had  been  persevered  in  for  many 
years ;  and  yet  the  men  never  realized  what  was  the 
matter  with  them,  until  they  had,  under  medical 
advice,  ceased  to  use  the  drug. 

Before  the  discovery  of  anassthetics,  tobacco  was 
used  as  a  remedy  to  produce  relaxation  in  *  cases  of 
strangulated  hernia ;  and  although  very  cautiously 
administered  in  the  form  of  tea,  or  smoke  per  rec- 
tum, proved  fatal  in  many  instances.  As  little  as 
twelve  grains  in  six  ounces  of  water  having  thus 
acted ;  and  from  half  a  drachm  to  two  drachms  in 
a  number  of  instances.  When  men  chew  as  high 
as  a  pound  and  a  quarter  of  strong  navy  tobacco  a 
week,  or  three  packages  of  fine-cut  in  a  day,  it  must 
certainly  tell  upon  them  sooner  or  later ;  or  even  in 
much  less  quantity. 

If  men  used  tobacco  in  moderation,  there  would  be 
much  less  objection  to  it,  if  it  was  not  so  intimately 

ASSOCIATED  WITH  THE  HABIT  OF  DRINKING. 

This  is  recognized  by  the  trade,  in  the  fact  that  we 
see  many  tobacco  stores  as  the  entrance  to  drinking 
saloons.  Ninety-three  per  cent,  of  the  men  who 
have  been  admitted  to  the  Franklin  Reformatory 
Home  used  tobacco,  and  eighty  per  cent,  of  them 
chewed  it.  There  may  be  possibly  as  high  as  ninety- 
three  per  cent,  of  male  adults  who  smoke,  but  eighty 
per  ceut.  of  chewers  is  undoubtedly  a  large  proper- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

t  >n  as  compared  with  those  in  the  same  ranks  of 
society  who  do  not  drink. 

Although  the  poisonous  symptoms  of  tobacco  are, 
in  a  great  degree,  the  same  in  different  persons  at 
the  inception  of  the  habit,  the  effects  vary  materially 
in  after  years  according  to  the  quantity  and  variety 
used,  the  form  employed  and  the  habits  and  tem- 
perament of  the  user.  One  man  will  chew  a  paper 
a  week,  another  four,  many  use  one  a  day,  and  a 
few  from  one  and  a  half  to  three  a  day,  besides 
smoking.  Occasionally,  but  very  rarely,  we  find  a 
man  who  limits  himself  to  one  cigar  a  day,  a  number 
allow  themselves  but  three,  but  of  later  years  even 
these  are  moderate  compared  with  those  who  use 
eight,  ten  or  more. 

There  are  many  men  who,  for  years,  preserve  a 
robust,  hale  appearance  under  both  tobacco  and 
whisky,  who  are,  notwithstanding  their  apparent 
health,  steadily  laying  the  foundation  of  diseased 
heart,  or 

DEKANGEMENT  OF  THE  DIGESTIVE  OEGANS 

or  nervous  system  from  the  former,  or  an  organic 
fatal  disease  of  the  liver  or  kidneys  from  the  latter. 
Healthy-looking  men  are  often  rejected  by  ex- 
aminers of  life  insurance  companies  because  of  ir- 
regular and  intermittent  action  of  the  heart  from 
tobacco;  and  equally  robust  subjects  are  forced  to 
abandon  the  habit  because  of  tremors,  vertigo  or  a 
peculiar  form  of  dyspepsia.  We  have  known  men 


204         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OE, 

who  died  from  the  use  of  tobacco,  and  others  who 
met  a  like  fate  from  whisky,  who  were  never  fully 
in  the  state  denominated  drunk.  Men  may  earn  a 
hobnail  liver  and  dropsy  by  the  constant,  steady 
use  of  alcoholic  drink  taken  systematically,  so  as 
always  to  keep  within  the  limits  of  intoxication ;  or 
they  may,  in  the  same  way,  get  a  diabetes  or  Bright's 
disease. 

Abundant  testimony  in  regard  to  the  effects  of 
tobacco  in  creating  an  appetite  for  strong  drink  has 
been  given  by  the  inmates  of  the  Franklin  Home. 
In  a  few  exceptional  cases  the  use  of  tobacco  does 
not  appear  to  create  any  sense  of  thirst ;  and  this 
is  specially  the  case  with  the  smokers  who  do  not 
spit  when  smoking.  Some  men  seem  to  be  free 
from  any  alcoholic  craving  when  using  tobacco,  and 
say  that  when  they  commence  to  drink  they  give 
up  the  drug  for  the  time  being.  These  are  excep- 
tional cases,  for  excess  in  drinking  generally  leads 
to  an  excess  in  the  use  of  tobacco,  often  to  double 
the  amount  ordinarily  employed.  We  have  often 
been  told  by  moderate  drinkers,  that  they  frequently 

FELT  A  DESIRE  FOri  A  LITTLE  WHISKY  AFTER  A  SMOKE, 

and  they  have  confessed  that  they  were  only  saved 
from  a  habit  of  drinking  to  excess  by  the  fact  that 
they  had  no  innate  fondness  for  alcoholic  stimulation. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  a  large  and  increasing  class 
of  men  who,  finding  that  water  does  not,  but  that 
alcohol  does,  relieve  the  dryness  of  throat  and  dis- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £05 

eased  thirst  resulting  from  tobacco,  are  led,  little  by 
little,  into  the  habit  of  using  whisky  to  excess. 
Such  men,  after,  it  may  be,  a  long  abstinence,  are 
not  unfrequently  led  back  into  their  old  habits  by 
an  attack  of  nervousness,  resulting  from  a  tempo- 
rary excessive  use  of  tobacco,  and  a  feeling  that  all 
that  is  wanting  to  relieve  this  is  a  glass  of  whisky, 
which  being  taken,  at  once  determines  a  debauch  of 
long  or  short  duration,  according  to  the  habits  and 
character  of  the  party.  Many  a  so-called  periodi- 
cal drinker  fixes  the  return  of  his  period  by  an  acj 
of  this  kind,  and  with  such  cases  it  is  all-important 
to  their  permanent  reformation,  that  they  should 
cease  entirely  and  forever  from  the  use  of  tobacco. 
We  have,  in  a  few  instances,  prevailed  upon  men  to 
do  this,  but  in  a  large  majority  of  cases,  where  they 
have  admitted  the  connection  between  the  two  habits, 
in  their  own  person,  or  volunteered  to  tell  how 
much  tobacco  had  acted  in  forming  and  keeping  up 
their  appetite  for  whisky,  they  have  failed  in  being 
able  to  sum  up  sufficient  resolution  to  abandon  the 
use  of  the  drug,  saying  that  they  felt  the  import- 
ance of  the  step,  and  would  be  glad  to  be  able  to 
give  it  up,  but  that  the  habit  was 

TEN  TIMES  AS  DIFFICULT   TO  CONQUER   AS   THAT  OF 
WHISKY-DRINKING. 

All  that  we  have  been  able  to  accomplish  in  such 
cases  has  been  to  check  the  excessive  use.  We  have 
repeatedly  assured  men,  after  a  careful  examination 


206         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

of  their  peculiar  cases,  that  they  would  certainly 
drink  again  unless  they  gave  up  their  tobacco,  and 
have  seen  this  opinion  verified,  because  they  took 
no  heed  to  the  warning.  We  have  also  been  grati- 
fied in  a  few  instances  by  hearing  a  man  say  that 
he  felt  confident  that  he  could  never  have  accom- 
plished his  reformation  as  he  had  done,  if  he  had 
not  taken  the  advice  given  him  about  abandoning 
his  tobacco.  In  contrast  with  the  men  of  weak  pur- 
pose, we  have  to  admire  one  who  had  resolution 
enough  to  break  off  the  three  habits  of  opium- 
eating,  whisky-drinking  and  tobacco-chewing — no 
trifling  matter — when  the  first  was  of  ten  and  the 
last  of  more  than  thirty  years'  duration. 

We  have  been  repeatedly  asked  which  was  the 
most  injurious,  smoking  or  chewing,  and  have  re- 
plied, that  everything  depended  upon  the  amount 
of  nicotine  absorbed  in  the  process,  and  the  loss  to 
the  system  in  the  saliva  spit  out.  Men  have  died 
from  the  direct  effect  of  excessive  smoking,  and  quite 
recently  a  death  in  a  child  was  reported  from  the 
result  of  blowing  soap-bubbles  with  an  old  wooden 
pipe.  We  have  known  a  little  boy  to  vomit  from 
drawing  air  a  few  times  through  the  empty  meer- 
schaum pipe  of  his  German  teacher.  The  smoking 
of  two  pipes  as  the  first  essay,  very  nearly  caused 
the  death  of  a  young  man,  whose  case  was  reported 
by  Dr.  Marshall  Hall. 

The  least  poisonous  tobaccos  are  those  of  Syria 
and  Turkey,  but  the  cigarettes  made  of  them  in  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £07 

East  and  imported  into  this  country  are  said  to  be 
impregnated  with  opium.  Virginia  tobacco,  for  the 
pipe  or  chewing,  contains  a  large  percentage  of 
nicotine,  and  the  former  is  often  impregnated  with 
foreign  matters,  recognizable  by  the  choking  effect 
of  the  smoke  when  inhaled,  or  by  the  removal  of 
the  epithelium  (outer  skin)  of  the  tongue  at  the 
point  under  the  end  of  the  pipe-stem. 

If  we  fail  in  our  efforts  to  reform  the  tobacco 
habit,  the  next  best  thing  to  do,  is  to  show  men 
what  the  nature  and  capabilities  of  the  poison  are, 
and  endeavor  to  persuade  them  to  use  the  milder 
varieties  and  in  a  moderate  quantity. 

ONE    OF    THE   GREAT   CURSES   OF   THE  RISING   GENE- 
RATION 

is.  the  passion  for  imitating  and  acquiring  the  evil 
habits  of  men,  under  an  impression  that  it  hastens 
their  approach  to  manhood.  Weak,  frail,  delicate 
boys,  with  inherited  tendencies  to  disease,  who 
should,  by  all  means,  never  use  tobacco,  or  anything 
injurious,  are  often  as  obstinately  bent  upon  learning 
to  smoke,  in  spite  of  medical  advice,  as  those  in 
whom  a  moderate  use  would  be  far  less  objection- 
able. A  recent  observer,  in  examining  into  the 
cases  of  thirty-eight  boys  who  had  formed  the  habit 
of  using  tobacco,  found  that  twenty-seven  of  them 
had  also  a  fondness  for  alcoholic  stimulants.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  Franklin  Home  inmates 
attribute  their  habit  of  drinking  to  the  effects  of 


'J08         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

company ;  many  commenced  in  the  army,  and  many 
were  induced  to  drink  at  first  by  invitation.  If 
smoking  was  a  solitary  habit,  it  would  be  less  likely 
to  lead  to  drinking;  but  the  same  companionship, 
and  habits  of  treating  prevail,  as  in  the  saloon,  and 
the  step  from  the  estaminet  to  the  bar-room  under 
invitation,  is  an  easy  one,  where  the  diseased  thirst, 
so  often  induced  by  tobacco,  favors  the  movement 
to  treat. 

We  have  no  prejudice  against  tobacco,  other  than 
what  would  naturally  arise  in  the  mind  from  a 
careful  examination  of  the  effects  of  the  poison 
in  hundreds  of  cases.  We  have  seen  large,  hale- 
looking  men  forced  in  time  to  abandon,  although 
very  reluctantly,  the  use  of  tobacco  in  every  form ; 
and  the  most  bitter  enemy  we  have  ever  met  to  the 
vile  weed,  as  he  termed  it,  was  a  physician,  who  had 
been  forced  to  give  up  chewing  on  account  of  the 
state  of  his  heart,  after  years  of  indulgence.  We 
have  seen  many  such  instances,  and,  in  one  case,  the 
abandonment  of  the  habit  entirely  cured  a  dyspepsia 
of  twenty-eight  years'  standing. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  WOMAN'S  CRUSADE. 

FOE,  every  one  saved  through  the  agency  of  ine- 
briate asylums  and  reformatory  homes,  hun- 
dreds are  lost  and  hundreds  added  yearly  to  the 
great  army  of  drunkards.  Good  and  useful  as  such 
institutions  are,  they  do  not  meet  the  desperate  exi- 
gencies of  the  case.  Something  of  wider  reach  and 
quicker  application  is  demanded.  What  shall  it  be  ? 
In  prohibition  many  look  for  the  means  by  which 
the  curse  of  drunkenness  is  to  be  abated.  But, 
while  we  wait  for  a  public  sentiment  strong  enough 
to  determine  legislation,  sixty  thousand  unhappy 
beings  are  yearly  consigned  to  drunkards'  graves. 

What  have  temperance  men  accomplished  in  the 
fifty  years  during  which  they  have  so  earnestly  op- 
posed the  drinking  usages  of  society  and  the  trafiic 
in  alcoholic  drinks  ?  And  what  have  they  done  for 
the  prevention  and  cure  of  drunkenness  ?  In  lim- 
iting the  use  of  intoxicants,  in  restricting  the  liquor 
traffic  and  in  giving  a  right  direction  to  public 
sentiment,  they  have  done  a  great  and  good  work ; 
but  their  efforts  to  reclaim  the  fallen  drunkard  have 
met  with  sad  discouragements.  In  the  work  of 
prevention,  much  has  been  accomplished ;  in  the 
£09 


210         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

work  of  cure,  alas !  how  little.  The  appetite  once 
formed,  and  the  unhappy  victim  finds  himself  under 
the  control  of  a  power  from  which  he  can  rarely 
get  free.  Pledges,  new  associations,  better  and  more 
favorable  surroundings,  all  are  tried,  and  many  are 
saved;  but  the  number  of  the  saved  are  few  in 
comparison  with  those  who,  after  a  season  of  so- 
briety, fall  back  into  their  old  ways. 

In  all  these  many  years  of  untiring  efforts  to  lift 
up  and  save  the  fallen,  what  sad  disappointments 
have  met  bur  earnest  and  devoted  temperance 
workers.  From  how  many  fields,  which  seemed 
full  of  a  rich  promise,  have  they  gathered  only  a 
meagre  harvest.  But  still  they  have  worked  on, 
gaining  strength  from  defeat  and  disappointment ; 
for  they  knew  that  the  cause  in  which  they  were 
engaged  wras  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity,  and 
that  in  the  end  it  must  prevail. 

Meantime,  the  bitter,  half-despairing  cry,"O  Lord, 
how  long !"  was  going  up  from  the  lips  of  broken- 
hearted wives  and  mothers  all  over  the  land,  and  year 
by  year  this  cry  grew  deeper  and  more  desperate. 
All  hope  in  man  was  failing  from  their  hearts. 
They  saw  restrictive  legislation  here  and  there,  and 
even  prohibition ;  but,  except  in  a  few  cases,  no  re- 
moval of  the  curse;  for  behind  law,  usage,  preju- 
dice, interest  and  appetite  the  traffic  stood  intrenched 
and  held  its  seat  of  power. 

At  last,  in  the  waning  years  of  the  first  century 
of  our  nation's  existence,  their  failing  hope  in  man 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUBE.  211 

died  utterly,  and  with  another  and  deeper  and  more 
despairing  cry,  the  women  of  our  land  sent  up  their 
voices  to  God.  Not  now  saying  "  O  Lord,  how  long !" 
but  "Lord,  come  to  our  help  against  the  mighty!" 

What  followed  is  history.  The  first  result  of  this 
utter  abandonment  of  all  hope  in  moral  suasion  or 
legal  force,  and  of  a  turning  to  God  in  prayer  and 
faith,  was  that  strange,  intense,  impulsive  movement 
known  as  the  "  Woman's  Crusade." 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  CKUSADE. 

Let  us  briefly  give  the  story  of  its  initiation  late 
in  the  month  of  December,  1873.  Dr.  Dio  Lewis, 
in  a  lecture  which  he  had  been  engaged  to  deliver 
at  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  related  how,  forty  years  before, 
his  pious  mother,  the  wife  of  a  drunkard,  who  was 
struggling  to  feed,  clothe  and  educate  her  five  help- 
less children,  went,  with  other  women  who  had  a 
similar  sorrow  with  her  own,  to  the  tavern-keeper 
who  sold  their  husbands  drink,  and,  kneeling  down 
in  his  bar-room,  prayed  with  and  for  him,  and  be- 
sought him  to  abandon  a  business  that  was  cursing 
his  neighbors  and  bringing  want  and  suffering  into 
their  homes.  Their  prayers  and  entreaties  prevailed. 
After  telling  this  story  of  his  mother,  the  lecturer 
asked  all  the  women  present  who  w^ere  willing  to 
follow  her  example  to  rise,  and  in  response,  nearly 
the  entire  audience  arose.  A  meeting  was  then 
called  for  the  next  morning,  to  be  held  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church. 


212       GRArruNG  WITH  THE  MOBSTER,-  OR, 

Dr.  Lewis  was  a  guest  at  the  old  mansion  of  Ex- 
Governor  Trimble,  father  of  Mrs.  E.  J.  Thompson, 
a  most  cultivated,  devoted  Christian  woman,  mother 
of  eight  children.  She  was  not  present  at  the  lec- 
ture, but  "prepared,"  as  she  writes,  "as  those  who 
watch  for  the  morning,  for  the  first  gray  light  upon 
this  dark  night  of  sorrow.  Few  comments  were 
made  in  our  house,"  she  continues,  "  upon  this  new 
line  of  policy  until  after  breakfast  the  next  morning, 
when,  just  as  we  gathered  about  the  hearth-stone,  my 
daughter  Mary  said,  very  gently :  *  Mother,  will  you 
go  the  meeting  this  morning?'  Hesitatingly  I  re- 
plied :  '  I  don't  know  yet  what  I  shall  do.'  My 
husband,  fully  appreciating  the  responsibility  of  the 
moment,  said :  '  Children,  let  us  leave  your  mother 
alone ;  for  you  know  where  she  goes  with  all  vexed 
questions  ;'  and  pointing  to  the  old  family  Bible,  left 
the  room.  The  awful  responsibility  of  the  step  that 
I  must  needs  next  take  was  wonderfully  relieved  by 
thought  of  the  '  cloudy  pillar '  and  '  parted  waters  ' 
of  the  past;  hence,  with  confidence,  I  was  about 
turning  my  eye  of  faith  'up  to  the  hills/  from 
whence  had  come  my  help,  when,  in  response  to  a 
gentle  tap  at  my  door,  I  met  my  dear  Mary,  who, 
with  her  Bible  in  hand  and  tearful  eyes,  said : 
'  Mother,  I  opened  to  Psalm  cxlvi.,  and  I  believe  it 
is  for  you.'  She  withdrew  and  I  sat  down  to  read 
the  wonderful  message  from  God.  As  I  read  what 
I  had  so  often  read  before,  the  Spirit  so  strangely 
'took  of  the  things  of  God,'  and  showed  me  new 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  213 

meanings,  I  no  longer  hesitated,  but,  in  the  strength 
thus  imparted,  started  to  the  scene  of  action. 

"  Upon  entering  the  church,  I  was  startled  to  find 
myself  chosen  as  leader.  The  old  Bible  was  taken 
down  from  the  desk,  and  Psalm  cxlvi.  read.  Mrs. 
General  McDowell,  by  request,  led  in  prayer,  and, 
although  she  had  never  before  heard  her  own  voice 
in  a  public  prayer,  on  this  occasion  '  the  tongue  of 
fire'  sat  upon  her,  and  all  were  deeply  affected. 
Mrs.  Cowden,  our  Methodist  minister's  wife,  was 
then  requested  to  sing  to  a  familiar  air — 

"  '  Give  to  the  winds  thy  fears  ! 
Hope,  and  be  undismayed ; 
God  hears  thy  sighs  and  counts  thy  tears  : 
He  will  lift  up  thy  head.' 

And  while  thus  engaged,  the  women  (seventy-five 
in  number)  fell  in  line,  two  and  two,  and  proceeded 
first  to  the  drug  stores  and  then  to  the  hotels  and 
saloons." 

Thus  began  this  memorable  Crusade,  which  was 
maintained  in  Hillsboro  for  over  six  months,  during 
which  time  the  saloons  were  visited  almost  daily. 

Within  two  days,  the  women  of  Washington 
Court-House,  a  neighboring  town,  felt  the  inspira- 
tion of  their  sisters,  and  inaugurated  the  movement 
there.  A  description  of  what  was  done  at  this  place 
will  afford  the  reader  a  clear  impression  of  the 
way  in  which  the  "  Crusaders  "  worked,  and  the  re- 
sults that  followed  their  efforts.  We  quote  from 
the  account  given  by  Mrs.  M.  V.  Ustick : 


214          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MOXSTER;    OR, 

"  After  an  hour  of  prayer,  forty-four  women  filed 
slowly  and  solemnly  clown  the  aisle  and  started 
forth  upon  their  strange  mission,  with  fear  and 
trembling,  while  the  male  portion  of  the  audience 
remained  at  church  to  pray  from  the  success  of  this 
new  undertaking;  the  tolling  of  the  church-bell 
keeping  time  to  the  solemn  march  of  the  women, 
as  they  wended  their  way  to  the  first  drug  store  on 
the  list  (the  number  of  places  within  the  city  limits 
where  intoxicating  drinks  were  sold  was  fourteen — 
eleven  saloons  and  three  drug  stores).  Here,  as  in 
every  place,  they  entered  singing,  every  woman 
taking  up  the  sacred  strain  as  she  crossed  the  thresh- 
old. This  was  followed  by  the  reading  of  the  appeal 
and  prayer,  and  then  earnest  pleading  to  desist  from 
their  soul-destroying  traffic  and  to  sign  the  dealers' 
pledge.  Thus,  all  the  day  long,  going  from  place 
to  place,  without  stopping  even  for  dinner  or  lunch, 
till  live  o'clock,  meeting  with  no  marked  success; 
but  invariably  courtesy  was  extended  to  them. 

"  The  next  day  an  increased  number  of  women 
went  forth,  leaving  the  men  in  the  church  to  pray 
all  day  long.  On  this  day  the  contest  really  began, 
and  at  the  first  place  the  doors  were  found  locked. 
With  hearts  full  of  compassion,  the  women  knelt 
in  the  snow  upon  the  pavement  to  plead  for  the 
Divine  influence  upon  the  heart  of  the  liquor-dealer, 
and  there  held  their  first  street  prayer-meeting. 
The  Sabbath  was  devoted  to  a  union  mass-meeting. 
Monday,  December  29th,  is  one  long  to  be  remem- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  21f> 

bered  in  Washington  as  the  day  on  which  occurred 
the  first  surrender  ever  made  by  a  liquor-dealer  of 
his  stock  of  liquors  of  every  kind  and  variety  to  the 
women,  in  answer  to  their  prayers  and  entreaties,  and 
by  them  poured  into  the  street.  Nearly  a  thousand 
men,  women  and  children  witnessed  the  mingling 
of  beer,  ale,  wine  and  whisky,  as  they  filled  the 
gutters  and  were  drunk  up  by  the  earth,  while  bells 
were  ringing,  men  and  boys  shouting,  and  women  sing- 
ing and  praying  to  God,  who  had  given  the  victory. 

"On  the  fourth  day,  the  campaign  reached  its 
height ;  the  town  being  filled  with  visitors  from  all 
parts  of  the  country  and  adjoining  villages.  An- 
other public  surrender  and  another  pouring  into  the 
street  of  a  larger  stock  of  liquors  than  on  the  day 
before,  and  more  intense  excitement  and  enthusiasm. 
In  eight  days  all  the  saloons,  eleven  in  number, 
had  been  closed,  and  the  three  drug  stores  pledged 
to  sell  only  on  prescription. 

"  Early  in  the  third  week  the  discouraging  intelli- 
gence came  that  a  new  man  had  taken  out  license 
to  sell  liquor  in  one  of  the  deserted  saloons,  and 
that  he  was  backed  by  a  whisky  house  in  Cincin- 
nati to  the  amount  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  break 
down  this  movement.  On  Wednesday,  14th  of 
January,  the  whisky  was  unloaded  at  his  room. 
About  forty  women  were  on  the  ground  and  fol- 
lowed the  liquor  in,  and  remained  holding  an  unin- 
terrupted prayer-meeting  all  day  and  until  eleven 
o'clock  at  night.  The  next  day — bitterly  cold — was 


210         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

spent  in  the  same  place  and  manner,  without  fire  or 
chairs,  two  hours  of  that  time  the  women  being 
locked  in,  while  the  proprietor  was  off  attending  a 
trial.  On  the  following  day,  the  coldest  of  the  win- 
ter of  1874,  the  women  were  locked  out,  and  re- 
mained on  the  street  holding  religious  services  all 
day  long.  Next  morning  a  tabernacle  was  built  in 
the  street  just  in  front  of  the  house,  and  was  occu- 
pied for  the  double  purpose  of  watching  and  praying 
through  the  day ;  but  before  night  the  sheriff  closed 
the  saloon,  and  the  proprietor  surrendered.  A  short 
time  afterwards,  on  a  dying  bed,  this  four-day's 
liquor-dealer  sent  for  some  of  these  women,  telling 
them  their  songs  and  prayers  had  never  ceased  to 
ring  in  his  ears,  and  urging  them  to  pray  again  in 
his  behalf;  so  he  passed  away." 

From  this  beginning  the  new  temperance  move- 
ment increased  and  spread  with  a  marvelous  rapidity. 
The  incidents  attendant  on  the  progress  of  the 
"  Crusade  "  were  often  of  a  novel  and  exciting  char- 
acter. Such  an  interference  with  their  business 
was  not  to  be  tolerated  by  the  liquor  men  ;  and  they 
soon  began  to  organize  for  defense  and  retaliation. 
They  not  only  had  the  law  on  their  side,  but  in 
many  cases,  the  administrators  of  the  law.  Yet  it 
often  happened,  in  consequence  of  their  reckless 
violations  of  statutes  made  to  limit  and  regulate  the 
traffic,  that  dealers  found  themselves  without  standing 
in  the  courts,  or  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  the  very 
laws  they  had  invoked  for  protection. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  217 

In  the  smaller  towns  the  movement  was,  for  a 
time,  almost  irresistible ;  and  in  many  of  them  the 
drink  traffic  ceased  altogether.  But  when  it  struck 
the  larger  cities,  it  met  with  impediments,  against 
which  it  beat  violently  for  awhile,  but  without  the 
force  to  bear  them  down.  Our  space  will  not  per- 
mit us  to  more  than  glance  at  some  of  the  incidents 
attendant  on  this  singular  crusade.  The  excitement 
that  followed  its  inauguration  in  the  large  city  of 
Cleveland  was  intense.  It  is  thus  described  by  Mrs. 
Sarah  K.  Bolton  in  her  history  of  the  Woman's 
Crusade,  to  which  we  have  already  referred: 

HOW  THE  CRUSADERS  WERE  TREATED. 

"  The  question  was  constantly  asked :  '  Will  the 
women  of  a  conservative  city  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  go  upon  the  street  as  a  praying-band  ?' 
The  liquor-dealers  said :  '  Send  committees  of  two 
or  three  and  we  will  talk  with  them ;  but  coming  in 
a  body  to  pray  with  us  brands  our  business  as  dis- 
reputable.' The  time  came  when  the  Master  seemed 
to  call  for  a  mightier  power  to  bear  upon  the  liquor 
traffic,  and  a  company  of  heroic  women,  many  of 
them  the  wives  of  prominent  clergymen,  led  by 
Mrs.  W.  A.  Ingham,  said :  '  Here  am  I ;  the  Lord's 
will  be  done.' 

"  On  the  third  day  of  the  street  work,  the  whisky 
and  beer  interest  seemed  to  have  awakened  to  a  full 
consciousness  of  the  situation.  Drinkers,  dealers 
and  roughs  gathered  in  large  numbers  on  the  street 


218         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

to  wait  for  the  praying  women.  A  mob,  headed  by 
an  organization  of  brewers,  rushed  upon  them, 
kicking  them,  striking  them  with  their  fists  and 
hitting  them  with  brickbats.  The  women  were 
locked  in  a  store  away  from  the  infuriated  mob, 
who,  on  the  arrival  of  a  stronger  body  of  police, 
were  dispersed,  cursing  and  yelling  as  they  went. 
The  next  day,  taking  their  lives  in  their  hands,  a 
larger  company  of  women  went  out,  and  somewhat 
similar  scenes  were  enacted.  Meantime,  public 
meetings,  called  in  the  churches,  were  so  crowded 
that  standing  room  could  not  be  found.  The  clergy, 
as  one  man,  came  to  the  front.  Business  men  left 
their  stores  and  shops,  ministers  their  studies,  and  a 
thousand  manly  men  went  out  to  defend  the  praying 
women.  The  military  companies  were  ordered  to 
be  in  readiness,  resting  on  their  arms ;  the  police 
force  was  increased,  and  the  liquor  interest  soon 
made  to  feel  that  the  city  was  not  under  its  control. 
The  mob  never  again  tried  its  power.  For  three 
months,  with  scarcely  a  day's  exception,  the  praying- 
bands,  sometimes  with,  twenty  in  each,  working  in 
various  parts  of  the  city;  sometimes  with  five  hun- 
dred, quietly  and  silently,  two  by  two,  forming  a 
procession  over  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  fol- 
lowed by  scores  in  carriages,  who  could  not  bear  the 
long  walks,  went  from  saloon  to  saloon,  holding 
services  where  the  proprietors  were  willing,  and  in 
warehouses  which  were  thrown  open  to  them,  or  in 
vacant  lots  near  by,  when  they  were  unwilling. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  211) 

*  *  *  Men  took  off  their  hats,  and  often  wept 
as  the  long  procession  went  by.  Little  children 
gathered  close  to  the  singers,  and  catching  the  words, 
sang  them  months  afterwards  in  their  dingy  hovels. 
Haggard  women  bent  their  heads  as  they  mur- 
mured with  unutterable  sadness,  '  You've  come  too 
late  to  save  my  boy  or  my  husband.'  Many  saloon- 
keepers gave  up  their  business  and  never  resumed 
it.  Many  who  had  lost  all  hope  because  of  the  ap- 
petite which  bound  them,  heard  from  woman's  lips 
the  glad  tidings  of  freedom  in  Christ,  and  accepted 
the  liberty  of  the  Gospel." 

In  many  other  places  the  crusaders  met  with  vio- 
lence from  exasperated  liquor-dealers  and  their 
brutish  associates.  A  pail  of  cold  water  was  thrown 
into  the  face  of  a  woman  in  Clyde,  Ohio,  as  she 
knelt  praying  in  front  of  a  saloon.  Dirty  water 
was  thrown  by  pailfuls  over  the  women  at  Nor  walk. 
At  Columbus,  a  saloon-keeper  assaulted  one  of  the 
praying-band,  injuring  her  seriously.  In  Cincin- 
nati, forty-three  women  were  arrested  by  the  authori- 
ties for  praying  in  the  street  and  lodged  in  jail.  In 
Bellefontaine,  a  large  liquor-dealer  declared  that  if 
the  praying-band  visited  him  he  would  use  powder 
and  lead ;  but  the  women,  undeterred  by  his  threat, 
sang  and  prayed  in  front  of  his  saloon  every  day 
for  a  week,  in  spite  of  the  insults  and  noisy  inter- 
ferences of  himself  and  customers.  At  the  end  of 
that  time  the  man  made  his  appearance  at  a  mass- 
meeting  and  signed  the  pledge ;  and  on  the  follow- 


220          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

ing  Sunday  attended  church  for  the  first  time  in 
five  years. 

DECLINE  OF  THE  CRUSADING  SPIRIT. 

From  Ohio  the  excitement  soon  spread  to  other 
Western  States,  and  then  passed  east  and  south, 
until  it  was  felt  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union  ; 
but  it  did  not  gain  force  by  extension.  To  the 
sober,  second-thought  of  those  who  had,  in  singleness 
of  heart,  self-consecration  and  trust  in  God,  thrown 
themselves-  into  this  work  because  they  believed  that 
they  were  drawn  of  the  Spirit,  came  the  perception 
of  other,  better  and  more  orderly  ways  of  accom- 
plishing the  good  they  sought.  If  God  were,  in- 
deed, with  them — if  it  was  His  Divine  work  of 
saving  human  souls  upon  which  they  had  entered, 
He  would  lead  them  into  the  right  ways,  if  they 
were  but  willing  to  walk  therein.  Of  this  there 
came  to  them  a  deep  assurance ;  and  in  the  great 
calm  that  fell  after  the  rush  and  excitement  and 
wild  confusion  of  that  first  movement  against  the 
enemy,  they  heard  the  voice  of  God  calling  to  them 
still.  And,  as  they  hearkened,  waiting  to  be  led, 
and  willing  to  obey,  light  came,  and  they  saw  more 
clearly.  Not  by  swift,  impetuous  impulse,  but 
through  organization  and  slow  progression  was  the 
victory  to  be  won. 

In  the  language  of  Frances  E.  Willard,  in  her 
history  of  "  The  Woman's  National  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,"  to  be  found  in  the  Centennial 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  221 

temperance  volume :  "  The  women  who  went  forth 
by  an  impulse  sudden,  irresistible,  divine,  to  pray 
in  the  saloons,  became  convinced,  as  weeks  and 
months  passed  by,  that  theirs  was  to  be  no  easily- 
won  victory.  The  enemy  was  rich  beyond  their 
power  to  comprehend.  He  had  upon  his  side  the 
majesty  of  the  law,  the  trickery  of  politics  and  the 
leagued  strength  of  that  almost  invincible  pair — 
appetite,  avarice.  He  was  persistent,  too,  as  fate ; 
determined  to  fight  it  out  on  that  line  to  the  last 
dollar  of  his  enormous  treasure-house  and  the  last 
ounce  of  his  power.  But  these  women  of  the  Cru- 
sade b'elieved  in  God,  and  in  themselves  as  among 
His  appointed  instruments  to  destroy  the  rum-power 
in  America.  They  loved  Christ's  cause ;  they  loved 
the  native  land  that  had  been  so  mindful  of  them  ; 
they  loved  their  sweet  and  sacred  homes ;  and  so  it 
came  about  that,  though  they  had  gone  forth  only 
as  skirmishers,  they  soon  fell  into  line  of  battle ; 
though  they  had  ignorantly  hoped  to  take  the  enemy 
by  a  sudden  assault,  they  buckled  on  the  armor  for 
the  long  campaign.  The  woman's  praying-bands, 
earnest,  impetuous,  inspired,  became  the  woman's 
temperance  unions,  firm,  patient,  persevering.  The 
praying-bands  were  without  leadership,  save  that 
which  inevitably  results  from  '  the  survival  of  the 
fittest ;'  the  woman's  unions  are  regularly  officered 
in  the  usual  way.  They  first  wrought  their  grand 
pioneer  work  in  sublime  indifference  to  prescribed 
forms  of  procedure — '  so  say  we  all  of  us '  being  the 


222         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

spirit  of '  motions'  often  made,  seconded  and  carried 
by  the  chair,  while  the  assembled  women  nodded 
their  earnest  acquiescence ;  the  second  are  possessed 
of  good,  strong  constitutions  (with  by-laws  an- 
nexed), and  follow  the  order  of  business  with  a 
dutiful  regard  to  parliamentary  usage.  In  the  first, 
women  who  had  never  lifted  up  their  voices  in  their 
own  church  prayer-meetings  stood  before  thousands 
and  '  spoke  as  they  were  moved ;'  in  the  second, 
these  same  women  with  added  experience,  and  a 
host  of  others  who  have  since  enlisted,  impress  the 
public  thought  and  conscience  by  utterances  care- 
fully considered.  The  praying-bands,  hoping  for 
immediate  victory,  pressed  their  members  into  in- 
cessant service ;  the  woman's  unions,  aware  that  the 
battle  is  to  be  a  long  one,  ask  only  for  such  help  as 
can  be  given  consistently  with  other  duties." 

As  the  result  of  this  intelligent  effort  at  effective 
organization  by  the  women  who  inaugurated  and 
were  prominent  in  the  "  Crusade,"  we  have  "  The 
Woman's  National  Christian  Temperance  Union," 
with  its  auxiliary  and  local  unions  in  nearly 
every  State ;  one  of  the  most  efficient  agencies  in 
the  practical  work  of  temperance  reform  which  the 
country  has  yet  seen. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    WOMAN'S    NATIONAL    CHEISTIAN    TEMPEEANCE 

UNION. 

TOURING  the  summer  of  1874,  when  the  re- 
-L^  action  which  had  checked  the  "  Crusade" 
was  recognized  as  something  permanent  by  the 
more  thoughtful  and  observant  of  the  women  who 
had  been  engaged  in  it,  they  paused  for  delibera- 
tion, and  took  counsel  together.  Great  victories  had 
been  won  in  the  brief  season  during  which  they 
were  masters  of  the  field ;  and  now  that  the  enemy 
had  rallied  his  forces,  and  intrenched  himself  be- 
hind law,  public  opinion,  politics  and  the  State, 
should  they  weakly  give  up  the  contest  ?  Not  so. 
They  had  discovered  wherein  the  weakness,  as  well 
as  the  strength,  of  their  enemy  lay,  and  had  come 
into  a  new  perception  of  their  own  powers  and 
resources. 

ORGANIZATION. 

The  first  step  taken  was  to  call  conventions  in 
the  various  States  where  the  Crusade  had  been 
active.  These  were  attended  by  delegates  chosen 
by  the  local  praying-bands.  The  result  was  the 
organization,  in  some  of  the  States,  of  what  were 


224          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

known  as  "  Temperance  Leagues."  Afterwards  the 
word  "Unions"  was  substituted  for  Leagues.  Hav- 
ing organized  by  States,  the  next  thing  was  to  have 
a  National  Union.  In  August  of  that  year,  the  first 
National  Sunday-School  Assembly  was  held  at 
Chautauqua  Lake,  near  Buffalo,  New  York.  Many 
of  the  most  earnest  workers  in  the  temperance  Cru- 
sade, from  different  parts  of  the  United  States,  and 
from  the  various  denominations  of  Christians,  were 
present,  and  the  conviction  was  general  that  steps 
should  at  once  be  taken  towards  forming  a  National 
League,  in  order  to  make  permanent  the  work  that 
had  already  been  done.  After  much  deliberation, 
a  committee  of  organization  was  appointed,  consist- 
ing of  a  woman  from  each  State.  This  committee 
issued  a  circular  letter,  asking  the  various  Woman's 
Temperance  Leagues  to  hold  meetings,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  electing  one  woman  from  each  Congressional 
district  as  a  delegate  to  a  National  Convention,  to 
be  held  in  November,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio.  A  single 
paragraph  from  this  circular  will  show  the  spirit 
that  animated  the  call. 

"  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remind  those  who  have- 
worked  so  nobly  in  the  grand  temperance  uprising 
that  in  union  and  organization  are  its  success  and 
permanence,  and  the  consequent  redemption  of  this 
land  from  the  curse  of  intemperance.  In  the  name 
of  our  Master — in  behalf  of  the  thousands  of  women 
who  suffer  from  this  terrible  evil,  we  call  upon  all 
to  unite  in  an  earnest,  continued  effort  to  hold  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  £20 

ground  already  won,  and  move  onward  together  to 
a  complete  victory  over  the  foes  we  fight." 

Delegates  representing  sixteen  States  were  pre- 
sent at  the  convention,  which  held  its  first  session  in 
Cleveland,  commencing  on  the  18th  of  November, 
1874,  and  lasting  for  three  days.  Erominent  among 
its  members  were  active  leaders  of  the  Crusade,  but, 
besides  these,  says  Miss  Willard,  "  there  were  pre- 
sent many  thoughtful  and  gifted  women,  whose 
hearts  had  been  stirred  by  the  great  movement, 
though  until  now  they  had  lacked  the  opportunity 
to  identify  themselves  with  it.  Mrs.  Jennie  F. 
Willing  presided  over  the  convention,  which  was 
one  of  the  most  earnest  and  enthusiastic  ever  held. 
A  constitution  was  adopted,  also  a  plan  of  organiza- 
tion intended  to  reach  every  hamlet,  town  and  city 
in  the  land.  There  was  a  declaration  of  principles, 
of  which  Christianitv  alone  could  have  furnished 

»/ 

the  animus.  An  appeal  to  the  women  of  our  coun- 
try was  provided  for;  another  to  the  girls  of 
America;  a  third  to  lands  beyond  the  sea;  a 
memorial  to  Congress  was  ordered,  and  a  deputation 
to  carry  it  appointed ;  a  National  temperance  paper, 
to  be  edited  and  published  by  women,  was  agreed 
upon,  also  a  financial  plan,  asking  for  a  cent  a  week 
from  members ;  and  last,  not  least,  was  appointed  a 
special  committee  on  temperance  work  among  the 
children.  Four  large  mass-meetings  were  held 
during  the  convention,  all  of  them  addressed  by 
women.  Mrs.  Annie  Witteninyer,  of  Philadelphia, 


226          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

was  elected  president;  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard,  of 
Chicago,  corresponding  secretary ;  Mrs.  Mary  C. 
Johnson,  of  Brooklyn,  recording  secretary ;  Mrs. 
Mary  A.  Ingham,  of  Cleveland,  treasurer,  with  one 
vice-president  from  each  State  represented  in  the 
convention." 

The  spirit  of  this  assembly  of  workers  is  shown 
in  the  closing  resolution,  which  it  adopted  unani- 
mously : 

"  Resolved,  That,  recognizing  the  fact  that  our  cause  is,  and 
is  to  be,  combated  by  mighty,  determined  and  relentless  forces, 
we  will,  trusting  in  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  Peace,  meet 
argument  with  argument,  misjudgment  with  patience,  denun 
ciation  with  kindness,  and  all  our  difficulties  and  dangers  with 
prayer." 

FIRST  YEAR'S  WORK. 

During  the  first  year  six  State  organizations  were 
added  to  the  number  represented  in  the  beginning, 
including  scores  of  local  unions.  A  monthly  paper 
was  established;  a  deputation  of  women  sent  to 
Congress  with  a  memorial,  to  which  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  signatures  had  been  obtained,  asking 
for  inquiry  and  legislation  in  regard  to  the  liquor 
traffic ;  a  manual  of  "  Hints  and  Helps,"  concerning 
methods  of  temperance  work,  prepared  and  issued ; 
and  other  agencies  of  reform,  and  for  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  liquor  traffic,  set  in  motion. 

The  reports  from  State  Unions,  made  to  the  first 
annual  meeting,  held  in  Cincinnati,  November,  1875, 
were,  in  most  cases,  highly  encouraging.  In  Ohio, 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  227 

a  large  number  of  local  unions  were  formed, 
nearly  two  hundred  friendly  inns  established,  while 
reading-rooms,  juvenile  societies  and  young  people's 
leagues  were  reported  as  multiplying  all  over  the 
State.  Indiana  showed  effective  work  in  the  same 
direction  ;  so  did  Illinois.  In  both  of  these  States 
many  local  unions,  reform  clubs  and  juvenile 
organizations  came  into  existence,  while  the  work 
of  temperance  agitation  was  carried  on  with  un- 
tiring vigor.  Iowa  reported  fifty  local  unions, 
eleven  juvenile  societies,  seven  reform  clubs  and 
six  coffee-houses  and  reading-rooms.  But,  how 
better  can  we  sum  up  the  results  of  this  year's 
work,  and  how  better  give  a  clear  idea  of  the  new 
forces  which  were  coming  into  the  field  under  the 
leadership  of  women,  than  by  giving  an  extract 
from  the  first  annual  report  of  the  corresponding 
secretary,  Miss  Frances  E.  Willard : 

"  Briefly  to  recapitulate,  bringing  out  salient  fea- 
tures, Maine  has  given,  since  the  Crusade,  the  idea 
of  the  temperance  camp-meeting,  which,  though  not 
original  with  us,  has  been  rendered  effective  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  our  own  workers.  Connecti- 
cut influences  elections,  has  availed  itself  of  peti- 
tions and  given  us  the  best  form  on  record.  New 
York  has  kept  alive  the  visitation  of  saloons,  and 
proved,  what  may  we  never  forget,  that  this  is 
always  practicable,  if  conducted  wisely.  In  the 
relief  and  rescue  branches  of  our  work,  the  Empire 
State  is  perhaps  without  a  rival.  The  women  of 


228         GRAPPLIXG   TSITII  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

Pennsylvania  have  bearded  the  gubernatorial  lien 
in  his  den,  and  the  Hartranft  veto  had  the  added 
sin  of  women's  prayers  and  tears  denied.  Mary- 
land and  the  District  of  Columbia  prove  that  the 
North  must  look  to  her  laurels  when  the  South  is 
free  to  enter  on  our  work.  As  for  Ohio,  as  Daniel 
Webster  said  of  the  old  Bay  State,  'There  she 
stands ;  look  at  her !' — foremost  among  leaders  in 
the  new  Crusade.  Michigan  is  working  bravely 
amid  discouragements.  Illinois  has  given  us  the 
most  promising  phase  of  our  juvenile  work,  and 
leads  off  in  reform  clubs.  Our  best  organized  States 
are  Ohio,  Indiana,  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and 
Iowa.  By  reason  of  their  multiplied  conventions  of 
State,  district  and  county,  their  numerous  auxila- 
ries,  their  petitions  and  their  juvenile  work,  Ohio 
and  Indiana  bear  off  the  palm,  and  stand  as  the 
banner  States  of  our  Union  up  to  this  time,  each  of 
them  having  as  many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty 
auxiliaries. 

"  Our  review  develops  the  fact  that  of  the  forty- 
seven  States  and  Territories  forming  the  United 
States,  twenty-two  States  have  formed  temperance 
unions  auxiliary  to  the  Woman's  National  Union. 
Of  the  twenty-five  not  yet  organized,  twelve  are 
Southern  States  and  eight  are  Territories  ;  while  of 
the  remaining  five,  three  are  about  to  organize  State 
unions,  and  have  already  flourishing  local  unions. 
So,  that,  without  exaggeration,  We  may  say  we  have 
fairly  entered  into  the  land  to  possess  it.  To  bring 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUEE.  229 

about  this  vast  result  of  organization,  and  to  main- 
tain it,  there  have  been  held  (not  to  mention  con- 
ventions of  districts  and  counties,  the  name  of  which 
is  legion,)  forty-five  State  conventions  of  women, 
almost  all  within  the  last  year. 

"  The  number  of  written  communications  sent  out 
during  the  year  from  our  Western  office  to  women 
in  every  State  in  the  Union,  io  nearly  five  thousand. 
This  is  exclusive  of  '  documents,'  which  have  gone 
by  the  bushel  from  the  Eastern  and  Western  offices, 
and  also  of  the  incessant  correspondence  of  our 
president.  Either  president  or  secretary  has  spoken 
in  nearly  every  State  in  which  our  organization 
exists.  During  the  summer  months,  conventions, 
camp-meetings  and  local  auxiliaries  in  large  num- 
bers have  been  addressed  by  officers  of  our  National 
and  State  Unions  in  all  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
and  in  many  of  the  Western  States.  Noteworthy 
in  our  history  for  the  year,  is  the  monster  petition 
circulated  in  nearly  every  State,  presented  to  Con- 
gress on  our  behalf  by  Senator  Morton,  of  Indiana, 
and  defended  in  an  eloquent  speech  before  the  Fi^ 
nance  Committee  by  our  president." 

THE  SECOND  YEAE'S  WOEK. 

The  second  annual  meeting  of  the  "  Woman 's 
National  Christian  Temperance  Union  "  was  held 
in  Newark,  N.  J.,  in  October,  1876.  From  the 
reports  made  to  this  meeting,  we  take  the  following 
interesting  statements,  showing  how  actively  the 


230         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

work,  for  which  this  great  National  Association  was 
organized,  has  been  prosecuted. 

Twenty-two  State  unions  were  represented  at  this 
meeting,  and  local  unions  were  reported  as  having 
been  formed  for  the  first  time  in  Tennessee,  Louisi- 
ana and  Arkansas,  preparatory  to  State  organizations. 
An  International  Temperance  Convention  of  women 
had  been  held  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  Philadel- 
phia, from  which  resulted  an  International  Woman's 
Temperance  Union.  A  summary  of  the  work  of  the 
year  says : 

"  In  almost  every  organized  State,  the  request 
of  our  National  Committee  that  ministerial,  medi- 
cal and  educational  associations  be  asked  to  de- 
clare their  position  in  relation  to  temperance  re- 
form has  been  complied  with.  In  every  instance,  the 
ladies  have  been  courteously  received,  and  in  no  case 
has  the  declaration  of  opinion  been  adverse,  and  in 
many,  most  hopeful  to  our  cause.  The  letter  of  Mrs. 
Wittenmyer  to  the  International  Medical  Convention 
recently  held  in  Philadelphia,  secured  the  important 
declaration  against  alcohol  made  by  that  body. 

"In  February,  our  president,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Mary  R.  Denman,  President  cf  New  Jersey 
W.  T.  U.,  made  a  trip  to  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
Louisiana,  in  the  endeavor  to  enlist  our  Southern 
sisters  in  the  temperance  work.  Large  meetings 
were  addressed  and  several  local  unions  organized. 

"  In  the  month  of  May  thirty-six  temperance 
meetings  were  held  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  by  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  231 

corresponding  secretary,  who  nas  also  made  a  trip 
through  Michigan,  and  spoken  in  all  the  Eastern, 
Middle  and  several  of  the  Western  States  since  the 
last  meeting. 

"  Our  recording  secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Johnson, 
has  visited  Great  Britian,  by  invitation  of  Christian 
women  there,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  our 
Gospel  work.  Going  in  the  spirit  of  the  Crusade, 
Mrs.  Johnson's  labors  have  awakened  an  earnest 
spirit  of  inquiry  and  activity  among  the  thoughtful 
and  comparatively  leisure  class.  During  her  six 
months'  absence  in  England  and  Ireland,  she  ad- 
dressed one  hundred  and  twenty-one  audiences  and 
conducted  forty  prayer-meetings. 

" '  Mother  Stewart,'  of  Ohio,  has  also  visited  Eng- 
land and  Scotland  this  year,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Good  Templars,  and  much  good  has  resulted 
from  her  labors. 

"  Our  union  has  circulated  the  petition  to  Con- 
gress for  a  Commission  of  Inquiry  into  the  costs  and 
results  of  the  liquor  traffic  in  America,  and  to  the 
Centennial  Commissioners  praying  them  not  to  allow 
the  sale  of  intoxicants  on  the  Exposition  grounds. 
The  desired  Commission  of  Inquiry  has  been  or- 
dered by  the  Senate  in  response  to  the  wish  of  the 
united  temperance  societies  of  the  land,  but  the  sub- 
ject did  not  come  before  the  House  at  the  last  session. 

"  Our  paper  has  constantly  increased  in  its  hold 
upon  the  local  unions,  whose  devotion  to  its  interests 
augurs  well  for  its  future  success. 


232          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

"  The  number  of  documents  scattered  among  our 
auxiliaries  cannot  be  accurately  stated,  but  is  not 
less  than  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand,  and  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  officers  by  letter  and  postal-card, 
will  not  fall  short  of  the  same  estimate.  To  correct 
misapprehensions,  it  should,  perhaps,  be  stated  that 
no  officer  of  the  National  Union  has  received  a 
dollar  for  services  or  traveling  expenses  during  the 
year." 

A  WORKING  ORGANIZATION. 

To  meet  annually  in  convention  and  pass  resolu- 
tions and  make  promises  is  one  thing ;  to  do  prac- 
tical and  effective  work  all  through  the  year  is  quite 
another.  And  it  is  just  here  that  this  new  temper- 
ance organization  exhibits  its  power.  The  women 
whom  it  represents  are  very  much  in  earnest  and 
mean  work.  What  they  resolve  to  do,  if  clearly 
seen  to  be  in  the  right  direction,  will  hardly  fail  for 
lack  of  effort.  In  their  plan  of  work,  one  branch 
particularly  embraces  the  children.  If  the  rising 
generation  can  not  only  be  pledged  to  abstinence, 
but  so  carefully  instructed  in  regard  to  the  sin  and 
evil  of  intemperance,  and  their  duty,  when  they 
become  men  and  women,  to  make  war  upon  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  to  discountenance  all  form  of 
social  drinking,  then  an  immense  gain  will  be  had 
for  the  cause  in  the  next  generation,  when  the  boys 
and  girls  of  to-day  will  hold  the  ballots,  make  the 
laws,  give  direction  to  public  sentiment  and  deter- 
mine the  usages  of  society. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  233 

LOOKING  AFTER  THE  CHILDEEN. 

To  what  extent,  then,  are  the  State  and  local 
unions  looking  after  the  children  ?  Writing,  as  wo 
now  are,  before  the  third  annual  meeting  of  the  Na- 
tional Union,  and,  therefore,  without  a  general  re- 
port of  the  year's  work  before  us,  we  are  unable  to 
give  a  statement  in  full  of  the  important  temperance 
work  which  has  been  done  with  and  for  the  rising 
generation.  But,  from  official  and  other  reliable 
sources  of  information,  we  are  in  possession  of  facts 
of  a  most  gratifying  character.  In  the  State  of 
Minnesota,  as  the  result  of  woman's  efforts,  they 
have  had  for  several  years  a  "  Sunday-School  Tem- 
perance League,"  and  their  last  annual  report  gives 
seventeen  thousand  as  the  number  of  children  al- 
ready "  pledged  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicants  as  a 
beverage."  Says  their  report  for  1877,  "  We  have 
carried  the  work  into  sixty -one  new  schools,  held 
sixty-three  anniversary  meetings  and  temperance 
concerts,  instigated  about  one  thousand  addresses  in 
the  Sunday-schools,  secured  six  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  seventy-four  signers  to  our  pledges,  and 
one  thousand  and  fifteen  to  our  constitution." 

In  most  of  the  larger  towns  throughout  the  United 
States  where  active  local  unions  exist,  juvenile 
unions,  bands  of  hope  or  temperance  associations 
by  some  other  name,  have  been  formed  among  the 
children.  .These  have,  in  many  cases,  a  large  mem- 
bership ;  often  as  high  as  from  five  to  six  hun- 
dred. In  Rockford,  111.,  the  juvenile  union  nuin- 


bers  over  eight  hundred  boys  and  as  many  girls. 
The  pledge  taken  by  these  children  includes,  in 
some  localities,  tobacco  and  profanity  as  well  as  in- 
toxicants. 

THE  WORK  OF  REFORM  AND  RESCUE. 

In  the  work  of  reform  and  rescue,  the  State  and 
local  unions  are  very  active,  especially  in  the  larger 
towns  and  cities.  In  the  smaller  towns,  religious 
temperance  meetings  are  held  weekly,  and  in  the 
larger  cities,  daily,  and  sometimes  twice  a  day. 
Chicago  has  as  many  as  eighteen  meetings  every 
week.  In  Chapters  XIX.  and  XX.  of  the  first  part  of 
this  volume,  we  have  described  at  length,  and  from 
personal  observation,  the  way  in  which  these  tem- 
perance prayer-meetings  are  generally  conducted, 
and  the  means  used  for  lifting  up  and  saving  the 
poor  drunkard. 

What  are  known  as  "  Reform  Clubs,"  have  grown 
out  of  the  efforts  made  of  these  praying  women,  to 
hold  in  safety  the  men  whom  they  have  been  able  to 
rescue.  These  clubs  are  numerous  in  New  England 
and  the  Western  States,  and  have  a  large  member- 
ship, which  is  composed  exclusively  of  reformed  men. 
The  common  platform  upon  which  they  all  stand  is : 
1.  Total  abstinence.  2.  Reliance  upon  God's  help 
in  all  things.  3.  Missionary  work  to  induce  others 
to  sign  the  pledge.  In  Newark,  N.  J.,  there  is  a  club 
with  a  membership  of  over  six  hundred  reformed 
men,  nearly  all  of  whom  have  been  rescued  in  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  235 

past  three  years,  through  the  efforts  of  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  of  that  city. 

In  an  interview  with  Mrs.  Wittenmyer,  President 
of  the  National  Union,  who  had  received  reports  of 
the  third  year's  work  from  the  various  unions,  we 
learned  that,  after  deducting  from  the  returns  all 
who  were  known  to  have  broken  the  pledge,  ten 
thousand  remained  as  the  number  reported  to  have 
been  saved  during  the  year,  and  who  were  still 
standing  in  the  strength  which  God  had  given  them. 
The  larger  part  of  these  rescued  men  had  united 
themselves  with  the  church,  and  were  earnestly  en- 
deavoring to  lead  Christian  lives. 

KEEPING  ALIVE  A  SENTIMENT    ADVERSE  TO   THE 
LIQUOR  TRAFFIC. 

Another  and  most  important  branch  of  the  work  of 
the  "  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,"  is  that 
of  arousing,  keeping  alive  and  intensify  ing  a  sentimen  t 
adverse  to  the  liquor  traffic.  So  long  as  the  State 
and  National  Governments  give  the  sanction  of  law 
to  this  traffic,  they  find  their  efforts  to  save  the 
fallen,  utterly  unavailing  in  far  too  many  instances. 
In  an  appeal  made  by  the  women  of  the  State 
Union  to  the  voters  of  Massachusetts,  under  date  of 
August  15th,  1877,  the  curse  of  this  traffic  is  exhib- 
ited in  words  of  solemn  earnestness.  The  document  is 
strong  and  convincing,  yet  temperate  and  respect- 
ful. We  copy  it  entire  as  presenting  arguments 
and  considerations  which  every  humane  and 


236         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

Christian  voter  in  the  laud  should  lay  deeply  to 
heart : 

"The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 
comes  to  you  with  a  solemn  and  earnest  appeal. 

"  Our  mission  is  the  redemption  of  the  Common- 
wealth from  the  curse  of  intemperance.  During 
the  past  year  we  have  labored  incessantly  for  this 
end,  and  have  expended  nearly  twenty  thousand 
dollars  in  efforts  to  rescue  the  perishing,  and  to 
educate  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  total  abstinence. 

"  In  this  work  we  have  met  numerous  obstacles — 
the  apathy  of  the  people,  the  inherited  and  depraved 
appetites  of  drunkards,  and  the  perilous  social  cus- 
toms of  the  day,  which  are  indorsed  by  the  practice 
of  many  otherwise  excellent  people.  Worse  than 
all  these  combined  is  the  influence  of  the  licensed 
dram-shop.  We  can  arouse  the  indifferent  to  action; 
we  can  enkindle  in  the  drunkard  aspirations  for  a 
better  life  than  that  of  debauchery ;  we  hope,  in 
time,  by  constant  agitation,  to  change  the  social 
customs  of  the  day.  But  against  the  influence  of 
the  licensed  dram-shop  we  are  powerless.  We  have 
no  ability  to  cope  with  this  most  formidable  enemy 
of  virtue,  prosperity  and  good  order. 

"A  long  and  bitter  experience  compels  us  to  say 
that  the  most  untiring  efforts  to  reclaim  the  drunkard 
have,  in  many  instances,  proved  unavailing,  because 
his  demoralized  will  has  been  powerless  to  resist  the 
temptations  placed  in  his  path  by  the  sanction  of 
the  State. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  237 

"  Worse,  if  possible,  even  than  this — the  licensed 
dram-shop  is  instrumental  in  creating  a  new  genera- 
tion of  drunkards.  For  thither  resort  our  young 
men,  the  future  hope  of  the  country,  who  speedily 
fall  before  the  seductions  of  the  place,  their  habits 
of  sobriety  are  subverted,  their  moral  sense  is 
blunted,  their  will  palsied,  and  they  drift  rapidly 
into  the  appalling  condition  of  habitual  drunken- 
ness. The  licensed  dram-shops  are  recruiting  offices, 
where  another  army  of  drunkards  is  enlisted,  to  fill 
the  ranks  depleted  by  dishonored  deaths — and  the 
great  Commonwealth  extends  over  them  the  a?gis  of 
its  protection,  indorsing  them  by  the  sanction  of 
law.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  drink  annually 
twenty-five  million  dollars'  worth  of  intoxicating 
liquors.  Only  God  can  furnish  the  statistics  of 
sorrow,  poverty,  disease,  vice  and  crime,  begotten  by 
this  fearful  consumption  of  strong  drink. 

"  Under  these  discouraging  circumstances,  men  of 
Massachusetts,  we  appeal  to  you  i  The  licensed 
dram-shop  is  the  creature  of  political  action.  We 
are  wholly  destitute  of  political  power,  by  which  it 
must  be  overthrown.  Anguished  by  the  peril  of 
fathers  and  brothers,  husbands  and  sons,  we  appeal 
to  you  to  make  good  the  oft-repeated  assertion  that 
the  men  of  the  State  represent  and  protect  the 
women  of  the  State  at  the  ballot-box.  We  beseech 
you  to  make  earnest  efforts  to  secure  the  repeal  of 
the  license  law  at  the  next  election,  and  the  enact- 


238         GEAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

ment  of  a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  as  a  beverage. 

"We  are  sure  we  speak  the  sentiment  of  the 
Christian  people  of  this  State,  and  of  all  who  stand 
for  morality,  thrift,  virtue  and  good  order,  when  we 
say  that  the  great  State  of  Massachusetts  should  not 
take  sides  with  the  drunkard-maker  against  his 
victim.  If  either  is  to  be  protected  by  law,  it  should 
be  the  drunkard,  since  he  is  the  weaker,  rather  than 
the  rumseller,  who  persistently  blocks  the  pathway 
of  reform. 

"  We  know  that  we  utter  the  voice  of  the  majority 
of  the  women  of  the  State  when  we  plead  the  cause 
of  prohibition — and  the  women  of  Massachusetts 
outnumbers  its  men  by  more  than  sixty  thousand. 
It  is  women  who  are  the  greatest  sufferers  from  the 
licensed  dram-shops  of  the  community — and  we 
pray  you,  therefore,  voters  of  Massachusetts,  to  take 
such  action  that  the  law  which  protects  these  drink- 
ing shops  may  be  blotted  from  the  statute  book  at 
the  next  election." 

This  appeal  from  the  Christian  women  of  Massa- 
chusetts is  signed  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore, 
President,  and  Mrs.  L.  B.  Barrett,  Secretary  of  the 
State  branch  of  the  Woman's  National  Temperance 
Union,  and  shows  the  animating  spirit  of  that  body. 
ISTo  one  can  read  it  without  a  new  impression  of  the 
wickedness  of  a  traffic  that  curses  everything  it 
touches. 

But  not  alone  in  Massachusetts  are  the  women  of 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  230 

the  "Union"  using  their  efforts  to  shape  public 
opinion  and  influence  the  ballot.  In  all  the  States 
where  unions  exist,  this  part  of  the  work  is  steadily 
prosecuted ;  and  it  cannot  be  long  ere  its  good  re- 
sults will  become  manifest  at  the  polls  in  a  steadily 
increasing  anti-license  vote,  and,  ultimately  in  the 
ranging  of  State  after  State  with  Maine,  Vermont 
and  New  Hampshire  on  the  side  of  prohibition. 

INFLUENCE  ON  THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION. 

In  still  another  direction  important  gains  have 
been  realized.  But  for  the  efforts  of  the  Woman's 
National  and  State  Temperance  Unions  we  should 
scarcely  have  had  the  declaration  of  the  Interna- 
tional Medical  Congress  of  1876,  adverse  to  the  use 
of  alcohol  as  food  or  medicine.  Early  in  their  work, 
the  women  of  the  "  Union,"  seeing  how  largely  the 
medical  prescription  of  alcohol  was  hurting  the 
cause  of  temperance,  and  being  in  possession  of  the 
latest  results  of  chemical  and  physiological  investi- 
gation in  regard  to  its  specific  action  on  the  body, 
sent  delegations  to  various  State  medical  associations 
at  their  annual  meetings,  urging  them  to  pass  reso- 
lutions defining  its  true  status  as  a  food  or  a  medi- 
cine and  discouraging  its  use  in  the  profession. 
With  most  of  these  medical  associations  they  found 
a  respectful  hearing ;  and  their  presentation  of  the 
matter  had  the  effect  of  drawing  to  the  subject  the 
attention  of  a  large  number  of  medical  men  who 
had  not,  from  old  prejudices,  or  in  consequence  of 


240         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

their  absorption  in  professional  duties,  given  careful 
attention  to  the  later  results  of  scientific  investiga- 
tion. As  a  consequence,  many  physicians  who  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  ordering  alcoholic  stimulants 
for  weak  or  convalescent  patients,  gave  up  the  prac- 
tice entirely ;  while  those  who  still  resorted  to  their 
use,  deemed  it  safest  to  be  more  guarded  in  their 
administration  than  heretofore. 

ACTION  OF  THE  INTERNATIONAL  MEDICAL  CONGRESS. 

But  the  crowning  result  of  this  effort  to  induce 
the  medical  profession  to  limit  or  abandon  the  pre- 
scription of  alcohol,  came  when  the  International 
Congress,  one  of  the  largest  and  ablest  medical 
bodies  ever  convened,  made,  through  its  "Section  on 
Medicine,"  the  brief,  but  clear  and  unequivocal  de- 
claration already  given  in  a  previous  chapter,  and  at 
once  and  forever  laid  upon  alcohol  the  ban  of  the 
profession. 

Official  communications  were  addressed  to  this 
body  by  the  National  Temperance  Society,  through 
its  president,  Hon.  Win.  E.  Dodge,  by  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  through  its  president, 
Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  and  by  the  New  York 
Friends'  Temperance  Union,  asking  from  it  a  decla- 
ration as  to  the  true  character  of  alcohol  and  its 
value  in  medicine. 

The  following  is  the  full  text  of  the  memorial  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union : 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  241 

"  To  the  Chairman  and  Members  of  the  International 

Medical  Congress  : 

"  HONORED  SIRS  : — I  take  the  liberty,  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Woman's  National  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  of  the  United  States,  to  call  your 
attention  to  the  relation  of  the  medical  use  of  alcohol 
to  the  prevalence  of  that  fearful  scourge,  intemper- 
ance. 

"  The  distinguished  Dr.  Mussey  said,  many  years 
ago :  '  So  long  as  alcohol  retains  a  place  among  sick 
patients,  so  long  there  will  be  drunkards.' 

"  Dr.  Rush  wrote  strongly  against  its  use  as  early 
as  1790.  And  at  one  time  the  College  of  Physicians 
at  Philadelphia  memorialized  Congress  in  favor  of 
restraining  the  use  of  distilled  liquors,  because,  as 
they  claimed,  they  were  '  destructive  of  life,  health 
and  the  faculties  of  the  mind.' 

"  '  A  Medical  Declaration,'  published  in  London, 
December,  1872,  asserts  that '  it  is  believed  that  the 
inconsiderate  prescription  of  alcoholic  liquids  by 
medical  men  for  their  patients  has  given  rise,  in 
many  instances,  to  the  formation  of  intemperate 
habits.'  This  manifesto  was  signed  by  over  two 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  leading  medical  men  of  the 
United  Kingdom.  When  the  nature  and  effects  of 
alcohol  were  little  known,  it  was  thought  to  be  in- 
valuable as  a  medicine.  But  in  the  light  of  recent 
scientific  investigations,  its  claims  have  been  chal- 
lenged and  its  value  denied. 

"  We  are  aware  that  the  question  of  the  medical 


242          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

use  of  alcohol  has  not  been  fully  decided,  and  that, 
there  is  a  difference  of  opinion  among  the  ablest 
medical  writers.  But  we  notice  that  as  the  discus- 
sion and  investigation  goes  on,  and  the  new  facts  are 
brought  out,  its  value  as  a  remedial  agent  is  depre- 
ciated. 

"  A  great  many  claims  have  been  brought  for- 
ward in  its  favor,  but  one  by  one  they  have  gone 
down  under  the  severe  scrutiny  of  scientific  research, 
until  only  a  few  points  are  left  in  doubt.  In  view 
of-  this,  and  the  startling  fact  that  tens  of  thousands 
die  annually  from  its  baneful  effects,  we  earnestly 
urge  you  to  give  the  subject  a  careful  examina- 
tion. 

"  You  have  made  the  study  of  the  physical  na- 
ture of  man  your  life-work,  and  you  are  the  trusted 
advisers  of  the  people  in  all  matters  pertaining  to 
the  treatment  of  diseases  and  the  preservation  of 
life  and  health. 

"  You  are,  therefore,  in  a  position  to  instruct  and 
warn  the  masses  in  regard  to  its  indiscriminate  use, 
either  as  a  medicine  or  a  beverage. 

"  We  feel  sure  that,  true  to  your  professional 
honor,  and  the  grave  responsibilities  of  your  distin- 
guished position,  you  will  search  out  and  give  us  the 
facts,  whatever  they  may  be. 

"  If  you  should  appoint  a  standing  committee 
from  your  own  number,  of  practical  scientific  men, 
who  would  give  time  and  thought  to  this  question, 
it  would  be  very  gratifying  to  the  one  liundn-d 


A  VICTIM  OF  THE  DRINKING  CLUB. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  245 

thousand  women  I  represent,  and  most  acceptable  to 
the  general  public. 

"  I  am,  with  high  considerations  of  respect, 
"  Your  obed't  servant, 

"  ANNIE  WITTENMYEE, 
"  Pres't  W.  Nat.  Cliris.  Temp.  Union. 
"Philadelphia,  Sept.  Qth,  1876." 

How  was  this  memorial  received  ?  Scarcely  had 
it  been  presented  ere  a  member  moved  that  it  be  laid 
on  the  table  without  reading ;  but  ere  the  vote  could 
be  taken  the  voice  of  another  member  rose  clear 
and  strong  in  the  question  whether  that  body  could 
afford  to  treat  a  hundred  thousand  American  women 
with  such  a  discourtesy  !  And  the  motion  to  lay  on 
the  table  was  lost. 

A  vote  to  refer  to  the  "  Section  on  Medicine  "  was 
largely  carried ;  and  to  that  section  the  petitioners 
took  their  case,  and  were  not  only  accorded  a  gra- 
cious and  respectful  hearing,  but,  after  a  full  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject,  a  declaration  against  the  use 
of  alcohol,  as  a  substance  both  hurtful  and  dan- 
gerous— possessing  no  "food  value  whatever,  and  as 
a  medicine,  being  exceedingly  limited  in  its  range. 
All  the  points  in  reply  were  passed  upon  unani- 
mously by  the  section  to  which  the  matter  was  re- 
ferred, and  afterwards  by  the  Congress  in  full 
session,  with  but  a  single  dissenting  vote,  and  the 
result  officially  communicated  to  the  president  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  An 


246         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

official  notification  of  the  action  of  the  Congress 
was  also  sent  to  Hon.  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  president  of 
the  National  Temperance  Society. 

Other  aspects  of  the  work  of  this  young  and  vig- 
orous organization  might  be  given  ;  but  enough  lias 
been  presented  to  show  that  its  agency  in  temper- 
ance reform  is  already  far-reaching  and  powerful : 
and  to  give  assurance  that  if  the  spirit  which  has 
influenced  and  directed  its  counsels  so  wisely  from 
the  beginning,  can  be  maintained,  it  will  achieve 
still  greater  and  more  important  victories  for  the 
cause  of  temperance. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

REFORM  CLUBS. 

rjlHESE  differ  in  some  aspects  from  most  of  the 
-L  associations  which,  prior  to  their  organization, 
had  for  their  object  the  reformation  of  men  who 
had  fallen  into  habits  of  drunkenness.  The  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics  of  the  reform  club  is 
its  religious  spirit,  its  dependence  upon  God  and  its 
reliance  upon  prayer. 

The  first  movement  in  this  direction  was  made  in 
Gardiner,  Maine,  in  January,  1872,  by  Mr.  I.  K. 
Osgood.  He  says  of  himself  that  in  fifteen  years 
he  had  run  down  from  a  moderate  and  fashionable 
drinker  of  wine,  to  a  constant  and  immoderate 
drinker  of  the  vilest  spirits ;  and  from  the  condi- 
tion of  a  respectable  business  man  to  one  of  misery 
and  destitution.  Coming  back  to  his  wretched  home 
late  one  night,  he  saw  through  the  window  his  poor 
wife  sitting  lonely  and  sorrowful,  waiting  for  his 
return.  The  sight  touched  his  heart  and  caused 
him  to  reflect,  and  then  to  resolve,  that  God  being 
his  helper  he  would  never  drink  again.  That  reso- 
lution he  found  himself  able,  by  God's  help,  to  keep. 
A  few  months  later  he  began  the  work  of  trying  to 
247 


248       GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  .MONSTER,-  OR, 

reform  others.  His  first  effort  was  with  a  lawyer, 
an  old  friend,  who  was  as  much  reduced  by  drink 
as  he  had  been.  After  much  entreaty,  this  man 
consented  to  break  off  drinking  and  sign  the  pledge! 
Mr.  Osgood  then  drew  up  the  following  call  for  a 
meeting  which  both  signed :  "  REFORMERS'  MEET- 
ING,— There  will  be  a  meeting  of  reformed  drinkers 
at  City  Hall,  Gardiner,  on  Friday  evening,  January 
19th,  at  seven  o'clock.  A  cordial  invitation  is  ex- 
tended to  all  occasional  drinkers,  constant  drinkers, 
hard  drinkers  and  young  men  who  are  tempted  to 
drink.  Come  and  hear  what  rum  has  done  for  us." 
A  crowd  came  to  the  City  Hall.  The  two  men 
addressed  the  meeting  with  great  earnestness,  and 
then  offered  the  pledge,  which  was  signed  by  eight 
of  their  old  drinking  companions.  These  organized 
themselves  into  a  reform  club,  which  soon  reached 
a  hundred  members,  all  of  whom  had  been  men  of 
intemperate  habits.  The  movement  soon  attracted 
attention  in  other  places,  especially  among  drinking 
men,  and  clubs  multiplied  rapidly  throughout  the 
State.  In  a  few  months,  the  aggregate  membership 
reached  nearly  twenty  thousand.  In  June  of  the 
following  year,  Mr.  Osgood  began  his  work  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, under  the  auspices  of  the  Massachusetts 
Temperance  Alliance,  organizing  about  forty  clubs, 
one  of  which,  in  Haverill,  numbered  over  three 
thousand  members.  In  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont, many  clubs  were  organized  by  Mr.  Osgood 
und  some  of  his  converts. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  249 

DR.  HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS. 

Another  effective  worker  in  the  field  is  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Reynolds,  of  Bangor,  Maine,  where  he  was  born 
in  18o9.  In  1863,  he  graduated  from  the  Medical 
College  of  Harvard  University,  and  was  assistant 
surgeon  in  the  First  Maine.Regiment,  heavy  artillery, 
during  two  years  of  the  war,  receiving  an  honorable 
discharge.  He  then  entered  upon  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  his  native  city,  and  continued  therein 
until  1874.  But  he  had  inherited  a  taste  for  strong 
drink,  through  the  indulgence  of  which  he  became 
its  abject  slave.  After  many  efforts  at  reform  which 
proved  of  no  avail,  he  resolved  to  look  to  Almighty 
God,  and  ask  for  strength  to  overcome  his  dreadful 
appetite.  About  this  time  there  was,  in  the  city  of 
Bangor,  a  band  of  Christian  women  who  met 
frequently  to  pray  for  the  salvation  of  the  intem- 
perate. At  one  of  their  meetings,  the  doctor  pre- 
sented himself — it  was  two  days  after  he  had  knelt 
alone  in  his  office  and  prayed  to  God  for  help — and 
publicly  signed  the  pledge. 

Sympathy  for  those  who  were  in  the  dreadful 
slough  from  which  he  had  been  lifted,  soon  began 
stirring  in  his  heart,  and  he  sought,  by  various 
methods,  to  influence  arid  save  them.  After  work- 
ing for  several  months,  with  only  partial  success,  it 
became  evideut,  that  for  sure  and  permanent  work, 
there  must  be  organization,  and  he  conceived  the 
plan  of  a  reform  club  made  up  exclusively  of  those 
who  had  been  drinking  men  ;  believing,  as  he  did, 


250          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER ;    OR, 

that  there  must  exist  between  two  men  who  had 
once  been  intemperate,  a  sympathy  which  could  not 
exist  between  a  man  who  has,  and  one  who  has 
never,  drank  to  excess.  As  soon  as  this  matter  be- 
came clear  to  him,  Dr.  Reynolds,  by  notice  in  a 
daily  paper,  invited  the  drinking  men  of  the  city  to 
meet  him  at  a  certain  place.  Eleven  men  responded 
to  the  call,  and  the  Bangor  Reform  Club,  the  first 
of  its  kind,  was  organized,  September  10th,  1874, 
with  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds  as  president.  The 
motto  of  the  new  organization  was,  "  Dare  to  do 
Right."  Filled  with  the  true  missionary  spirit,  this 
little  band  held  other  meetings,  and  did  their  utmost 
to  bring  in  new  members,  and  so  successful  were 
their  efforts,  that  in  a  few  weeks  their  membership 
pwelled  to  hundreds,  and  the  whole  city  was  in  a 
state  of  excitement  over  the  new  and  strange  work 
which  had  been  inaugurated. 

From  Bangor,  the  excitement  soon  spread  through 
the  State.  Dr.  Reynolds,  believing  that  God  had 
called  him  to  the  work  of  saving  men  from  intem- 
perance and  leading  them  to  Christ,  gave  up  his 
profession  and  threw  himself  into  the  work  of 
preaching  temperance  and  organizing  reform  clubs. 
Within  a  year  forty-five  thousand  reformed  men 
were  gathered  into  clubs  in  the  State  of  Maine.  In 
August,  1875,  at  a  meeting  of  the  National  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Camp-Meeting  Association,  held 
at  Old  Orchard,  Maine,  where  temperance  workers 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  hacl  congregated,  the 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  251 

president  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  learned  of  the  great 
work  of  reform  progressing  in  Maine  under  the 
leadership  of  Dr.  Reynolds,  and  invited  him  to  in- 
troduce his  work  in  Massachusetts  by  holding  a 
series  of  meetings  in  Salem  during  the  month  of 
September.  So  the  work  began  in  the  Old  Bay 
State,  and  within  a  year,  forty  thousand  men  of  that 
Commonwealth,  who  had  been  habitual  drinkers, 
were  organized  into  reform  clubs. 

FORMATION  OF  CLUBS. 

The  method  pursued  by  Dr.  Reynolds  in  the  for- 
mation of  these  clubs  is  very  simple.  There  is  a 
constitution  with  by-laws,  to  which  the  following 
pledge  is  prefixed :  "  Having  seen  and  felt  the  evils 
of  intemperance,  therefore,  Resolved,  That  we,  the 
undersigned,  for  our  own  good  and  the  good  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  do  hereby  promise  and 
engage,  with  the  help  of  Almighty  God,  to  abstain 
from  buying,  selling  or  using  alcoholic  or  malt  bev- 
erages, wine  and  cider  included."  Article  III.  of 
the  constitution  gives  the  qualification  for  member- 
ship :  "All  male  persons  of  the  age  of  eighteen  or 
upwards,  who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  in- 
toxicating liquor  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  are 
eligible  to  membership  in  this  club."  After  or- 
ganizing a  club  of  persons  who  have  been  addicted 
to  drink,  Dr.  Reynolds  appeals  to  the  Christian 
women  of  the  locality  to  throw  around  them  the 


252         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

shield  of  their  care  and  sympathy,  and  urges  upon 
the  people  at  large  the  necessity  of  upholding  and 
encouraging  them  in  every  possible  way. 

The  meetings  of  the  clubs  are  held  at  least  once 
during  the  week,  in  the  evenings ;  and  on  Sunday 
afternoons  or  evenings,  the  clubs,  with  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Unions,  hold  public  religious 
temperance  meetings,  which  are  often  crowded  to 
overflowing.  The  order  of  exercises  at  these  public 
meetings  consist  of  prayer,  reading  of  Scripture  and 
brief  addresses  by  reformed  men,  interspersed  with 
the  singing  of  such  hymns  as  "  Rock  of  Ages," 
"  Hold  the  Fort,"  "  I  Need  Thee  Every  Hour,"  etc. 
Brief  addresses  are  the  rule,  and  a  hymn  is  usually 
sung  between  each  address. 

The  badge  worn  by  members  of  these  reformed 
clubs  is  a  red  ribbon.  Their  motto  is  "  Dare  to  do 
Right." 

One  of  the  first  fruits  of  the  establishment  of  a 
reform  club  in  any  locality,  is  an  increase  in  church 
attendance,  and  a  decrease  in  the  tax  rate.  In  many 
towns  where  they  exist,  liquor-selling  has  become 
unprofitable,  and  liquor-drinking  a  custom  that 
hurts  a  man's  social  standing. 

From  the  East,  Dr.  Reynolds  extended  his  labors 
into  the  West,  where  his  work  has  been  chiefly  con- 
fined to  the  State  of  Michigan.  In  a  letter  to  the 
Union,  the  organ  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union,  under  date  of  July,  1877,  the  as- 
pect and  results  of  Dr.  Reynolds's  work  in  that  State 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUES.  253 

are  thus  referred  to  by  a  correspondent  from  Evans- 
ton  :  "  His  plan  is  to  take  a  State  and  settle  down 
in  it  '  to  stay '  until  it  capitulates  to  the  red-ribbon 
pledge.  None  but  men  over  eighteen  years  of  age 
are  allowed  to  sign  this  pledge.  Eighty  thousand 
men  in  Michigan,  to-day,  wear  the  ribbon,  which  is 
a  token  of  their  signature — all  of  them  have  been 
drinking  men.  '  None  others  need  apply  '  as  mem- 
bers of  Dr.  Reynolds's  Reform  Clubs.  His  method 
is  to  speak  in  a  general  way  to  the  public  on  the 
evening  of  his  arrival — his  meetings  being  held  in 
a  hall  and  thoroughly  announced.  The  next  after- 
noon, the  doctor  addresses  women,  chiefly  from  the 
medical  point  of  view.  If  they  have  not  a  W.  T. 
U.  he  organizes  one.  The  second  night  he  talks  to 
the  public  generally  again,  and  organizes  his  club, 
then  goes  on  his  way,  and  leaves  the  town  rejoicing. 
The  doctor  is  thoroughly  business-like  and  methodi- 
cal. There  is  no  doubt  about  his  securing,  in  every 
State  he  visits,  the  same  results  as  in  Michigan,  for 
his  ability  is  marked,  his  experience  growing,  his 
sincerity  complete  and  all  his  work  is  '  begun,  con  • 
dnued  and  ended '  in  a  firm  reliance  upon  God." 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  excitement  created  by  the 
presence  of  Dr.  Reynolds  in  any  community,  and 
of  the  results  of  his  efforts  to  reclaim  intemperate 
men,  we  copy  the  following  brief  reference  to  his 
work  in  the  spring  of  1877  : 

"It  is  impossible  to  give  figures,  for  there  are 
additions  every  day  of  hundreds  in  the  State,  and 


254         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

the  climax  of  enthusiasm  is  by  no  means  reached 
in  any  town  while  Dr.  Reynolds  is  there. 

"In  Jackson,  Sabbath  evening,  February  llth, 
two  months  after  the  organization  of  the  club, 
Union  Hall  was  so  packed  that  the  galleries  settled 
and  were  cleared,  and  hundreds  could  not  gain  ad- 
mittance. 

"As  the  result  of  ten  days'  work  in  Saginaw 
Valley — at  the  three  cities — (Bay  City,  Saginaw 
City  and  East  Saginaw),  the  clubs  number  about 
three  thousand  men. 

"  From  there,  Dr.  Reynolds  went  to  Lansing,  our 
capital,  and  at  the  first  signing,  two  hundred  and 
forty-five  joined  the  club,  which  is  far  up  in  the 
hundreds  now. 

"  The  last  and  greatest  victory  is  Detroit.  Slow, 
critical,  conservative,  staid,  not-any-shams-for-me 
Detroit. 

"  Friday  and  Saturday  nights  there  were  crowded 
houses.  Sabbath  afternoon,  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men  together,  and  a  club  of  three  hundred 
and  forty-five  formed.  Sabbath  evening,  no  room 
could  hold  the  people,  and  the  club  reached  nearly 
nine  hundred.  It  is  safe  to  say  to-day  that  a  thou- 
sand men  in  the  city  of  Detroit  are  wearing  the  red 
ribbon. 

"  Dr.  Reynolds  has  done  another  grand  work, 
and  that  is  in  bringing  up  the  W.  C.  T.  Unions. 
Everywhere  this  follows,  churches  are  packed  with 
women.  Dr.  Reynolds  tells  them  how  they  can 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  255 

help  the  men  and  their  families,  and  they  fall  into 
line  by  the  hundreds.  Three  hundred  have  enlisted 
in  Bay  City,  four  hundred  in  Lansing,  two  hundred 
in  East  Saginaw,  and  so  on,  all  over  the  State." 

The  establishment  of  reform  clubs  has  been  more 
general  in  New  England  and  the  Western  States 
than  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  though  their  or- 
ganization in  some  of  the  Middle  States  has  been 
attended  with  marked  success.  Vermont  has  a  large 
number  of  clubs,  the  membership  ranging  from  one 
hundred  to  fifteen  hundred. 

FRANCIS  MUEPHY. 

The  work  of  Francis  Murphy,  which  has  been 
attended  with  such  remarkable  fervors  of  excitement 
in  nearly  every  community  where  he  has  labored, 
is  not  so  definite  in  its  purpose,  nor  so  closely  or- 
ganized, nor  so  permanent  in  its  results  as  that  of 
Dr.  Reynolds.  He  draws  vast  assemblies,  and  ob- 
tains large  numbers  of  signers  to  his  pledge,  which 
reads : 

"  With  malice  towards  none  and  charity  for  all, 
I,  the  undersigned,  do  pledge  my  word  and  honor, 
God  helping  me,  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating 
liquors  as  a  beverage,  and  that  I  will,  by  all  honor- 
able means,  encourage  others  to  abstain." 

An  Irishman  by  birth,  and  full  of  the  warm  im- 
pulse and  quick  enthusiasm  of  his  people,  he  has 
thrown  himself  into  the  work  of  temperance  reform 
with  an  earnestness  that  commands  a  hearing,  and 


2-56         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

with  an  ardor  of  appeal  and  solicitation  that  is,  for 
the  time,  almost  irresistible. 

In  the  fall  of  1869,  Francis  Murphy  found  him- 
self in  the  cell  of  a  prison  in  the  city  of  Portland, 
Maine,  to  which  he  had  been  committed  for  drunk- 
enness. He  had  been  a  liquor-seller,  commencing 
the  work  as  a  sober  man  with  a  good  character,  and 
ending  it  in  ruin  to  himself  and  family,  and  with 
the  curse  of  the  drunkard's  appetite  upon  him.  A 
Christian  gentleman,  Captain  Cyrus  Sturdevant,  had 
obtained  permission  of  the  authorities  to  visit  the 
jail  and  talk  and  pray  with  the  prisoners.  This 
brought  him  into  personal  contact  with  Mr.  Mur- 
phy, who  was  not  only  deeply  humiliated  at  the 
disgrace  into  which  his  intemperate  life  had  brought 
him,  but  almost  in  despair.  He  tells  the  story  of 
this  part  of  his  life  with  a  moving  eloquence.  Capt. 
Sturdevant,  after  some  solicitation,  induced  him  to 
leave  his  cell  one  Sunday  morning  and  attend  reli- 
gious services  with  the  prisoners.  He  was  in  a  state 
of  mind  to  be  deeply  impressed  by  these  services, 
and  the  result  was  a  solemn  resolution  to  walk,  with 
God's  help,  in  a  new  and  better  way.  While  yet  a 
prisoner,  he  began  his  work  of  trying  to  save  men 
from  the  curse  of  drink,  and  to  lead  them  to  enter 
upon  a  religious  life;  and  his  influence  with  his 
fellow-prisoners  was  very  marked  and  for  good. 
On  leaving  the  jail,  he  began  at  once  his  efforts  to 
rescue  others  from  the  slavery  from  which  he  had 
escaped.  His  first  appearance  as  a  lecturer  was  in 


HIE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  257 

the  city  of  Portland.  The  effort  was  well  received 
by  the  audience,  and  at  its  close  he  found  himself 
an  object  of  special  interest.  From  this  time,  he 
gave  himself  almost  wholly  to  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. After  working  for  a  time  in  Portland,  and 
assisting  in  the  organization  of  a  reform  club,  he  ex- 
tended his  efforts  to  other  parts  of  the  State  of 
Maine,  and  afterwards  to  New  Hampshire  and  the 
adjoining  States,  in  which  he  labored  for  nearly 
three  years  with  marked  and  often  extraordinary 
success.  From  New  England,  Mr.  Murphy  went, 
on  invitation,  to  the  West,  and  was  very  active 
there,  especially  in  Iowa  and  Illinois,  in  which 
States  he  aroused  the  people,  and  was  instrumental 
in  the  organization  of  large  numbers  of  local  socie- 
ties and  reform  clubs. 

In  the  winter  of  1876-7,  his  work  in  Pittsburgh  was 
attended  with  remarkable  results ;  over  sixty  thou- 
sand signatures  were  obtained  to  his  pledge,  and 
over  five  hundred  saloons  in  Allegheny  and  neigh- 
boring counties  closed  their  doors  for  want  of  patron- 
age. The  succeeding  spring  and  summer  Mr.  Mur- 
phy spent  in  Philadelphia,  where  the  excitement 
was  almost  as  great  as  it  had  been  in  Pittsburgh. 
But,  as  in  the  last-named  city,  too  large  a  portion 
of  the  harvest  which  had  been  reaped  was  left  to 
perish  on  the  ground  for  lack  of  the  means,  or  the 
will,  to  gather  and  garner  it.  The  real  substantial 
and  enduring  work  here  has  been  that  of  the  Wo- 
man's Christian  Temperance  Union ;  which  not 


253         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

only  held  its  meetings  daily  during  the  exciting 
time  of  the  Murphy  meetings,  but  has  held  them 
daily  ever  since,  keeping,  all  the  while,  hand  and 
heart  upon  the  men  who  are  trying  in  earnest  to 
reform,  and  helping,  encouraging  and  protecting 
them  by  all  the  means  in  their  power. 

Mr.  Murphy  continues  to  work  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  attracting  large  audiences  wherever  he 
appears,  and  leading  thousands  to  sign  his  pledge. 
He  has  done  and  is  still  doing  good  service  in  the 
cause  to  which  he  is  so  earnestly  devoting  himself. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

GOSPEL    TEMPERANCE. 

AS  we  have  seen  in  the  chapters  on  the  "  Cru- 
sade," the  "  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,"  and  the  "  Reform  Clubs,"  this  new  temper- 
ance movement,  which  has  attained  in  the  last  few 
years  such  large  dimensions,  has  in  it  many  of 
the  features  of  a  religious  revival.  On  this  account, 
and  to  distinguish  it  from  all  preceding  efforts  to 
break  down  the  liquor  traffic  and  save  the  drunkard, 
it  has  been  called  a  Gospel  temperance  movement. 
Its  chief  reliance  with  many  has  been  on  prayer 
and  faith,  as  agencies  by  which  the  mighty  power 
of  God  could  be  so  determined  as  not  only  to  save 
the  drunkard  from  the  curse  of  his  debasing  appe- 
tite, but  to  so  move  and  act  upon  the  liquor-seller  as 
to  lead  him  to  abandon  his  accursed  traffic. 

THE  VALUE  OF  PRAYER  AND  FAITH  ALONE. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  movement,  which 
took  the  form  of  what  is  known  as  the  "  Woman's 
Crusade,"  the  power  of  prayer  seemed  for  awhile  to 
be  an  almost  irresistible  force.  Thousands  and  tens 
of  thousands  of  men  were,  as  they  felt  assured  in 
their  hearts,  freed  in  an  instant  of  time  from  an 


2GO         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

appetite  which  had  been  growing  and  strengthening 
for  years,  until  it  held  complete  mastery  over  them  ; 
and  this  in  answer  to  the  prayer  of  faith.  And 
hundreds  of  saloon  and  tavern-keepers  abandoned 
their  evil  work,  because,  as  was  believed,  God,  in 
answer  to  the  prayers  of  pious  men  and  women, 
had  turned  upon  them  the  influences  of  His  Holy 
Spirit,  and  constrained  them  to  this  abandonment. 

For  awhile  this  power  of  prayer  was  regarded  as 
the  force  that  was  to  break  down  the  liquor  traffic, 
and  rescue  the  people  from  the  curse  of  appetite. 
If  prayer  were  persistent  enough,  and  faith  strong 
enough,  God  would  come  to  the  rescue,  overthrow 
the  enemy,  and  redeem  and  save  the  wretched  vic- 
tims he  was  holding  in  such  cruel  bondage.  But,  as 
time  moved  on,  and  the  enemy,  whose  ranks  were 
at  first  thrown  into  confusion,  rallied  his  forces  and 
held  himself  secure  against  renewed  attack,  there 
came  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  many  aa  to  the  value 
of  prayer  and  faith  as  the  sole  agency  by  which  the 
rule  of  the  demon  of  intemperance  was  to  be  over- 
thrown ;  and  the  same  doubt  came  as  to  the  power 
of  prayer  and  faith  alone  to  work  the  removal  of  an 
appetite  for  drink,  when  it  was  found  by  sad  expe- 
rience that  of  the  thousands  of  men  who  signed  the 
pledge  under  religious  excitement,  and  made  public 
declaration  that,  through  faith  in  Christ,  they  had 
been  healed  of  their  infirmity,  only  a  few  were  able 
to  stand  in  the  hour  of  temptation  ;  and  these  stood 
fast  because  they  rested  in  no  vain  security.  They 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  2G1 

knew,  from  an  inner  conviction,  that  appetite  had 
not  been  destroyed ;  and  that,  in  some  unguarded 
moment,  it  would  spring  upon  and  endeavor  to 
enslave  them  again.  But,  with  God's  help,  they 
had  resolved  to  hold  it  in  check.  Humbly  they 
looked  to  Him  for  strength — meantime  watching, 
as  well  as  praying — to  fight  and  overcome  when 
their  hour  of  trial  and  darkness  came.  So  they 
stood  ever  on  guard ;  and  God  gave  them  the 
strength  they  asked  for,  and  victory  after  victory, 
until  their  enemy  was  under  their  feet ;  not  dead, 
but  held  there  by  the  power  which  is  given  to  every 
one  who  will  use  it  against  the  enemies  of  his  soul. 

PRAYER  SUPPLEMENTED  BY  ORGANIZED  WORK. 

Not  so  much  dependence  on  prayer  and  faith  now 
as  on  organized  work  in  the  natural  plane  of  means 
and  forces.  This  came  as  an  orderly  sequence,  and 
gave  to  the  cause  of  Gospel  temperance  a  surer 
foundation  to  rest  upon,  and  a  larger  promise  of 
success.  There  was  no  turning  away  from  God  ;  no 
weakness  of  faith  in  His  Divine  power  and  readi- 
ness to  save ;  but  clearer  light  as  to  His  ways  with 
man,  and  as  to  how  He  is  able  to  save,  to  the  utter- 
most, all  who  come  unto  Him.  The  instances  going 
to  show  that  men  were  not  cured  of  the  appetite  for 
strong  drink  in  a  moment  of  time  by  prayer  and 
faith,  were  too  many  and  too  sorrowful  not  to  force 
this  conviction  upon  the  mind  of  every  thoughtful 
and  observant  Christian  man  and  woman.  And,  so, 


262          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

even  while  many  sincere  and  self-devoted  workers 
in  this  cause  still  hold  to  the  view  that  God  can, 
and  will,  if  the  faith  be  strong  enough,  change  a 
man  in  an  instant  of  time,  and  with  no  co-operation 
of  his  own  beyond  this  act  of  faith,  from  vileness  to 
purity — from  a  love  of  evil  to  a  love  of  good — the 
sounder,  safer  and  more  Scriptural  doctrine  that,  if 
a  man  would  be  saved  from  the  enemies  of  his  soul, 
he  must  fight  and  overcome  them  in  the  strength 
which  God  gives  to  all  who  will  ask  and  receive,  is 
the  one  now  more  generally  preached  to  reformed 
men ;  and,  as  a  result,  the  number  of  those  who 
stand  fast  in  the  new  life  to  which  they  have  at- 
tained, is  steadily  increasing. 

THE  APPETITE  FOE   DRINK  NOT   TAKEN  AWAY  IN  A 
MOMENT. 

Still,  far  too  widely  in  this  Gospel  work  of  saving 
fallen  men  from  the  power  of  appetite,  is  the  delu- 
sive idea  held  out  that  if  a  man  will  "  give  his  heart 
to  Christ,"  as  it  is  called;  that  is,  pray  humbly, 
sincerely  and  in  faith  to  have  his  sins  forgiven,  and 
his  soul  purified  from  all  evil  by  an  application  of 
Divine  grace ;  God  will,  in  answer  to  this  prayer 
alone,  and  in  an  instant  of  time,  take  away  the 
appetite  for  drink  which  has  been  for  years  gradu- 
ally gaining  the  mastery  over  him.  We  have  heard 
a  man  declare,  in  the  presence  of  an  assemblage  of 
men  who  had  been  slaves  to  drink,  and  who  were 
seeking  for  a  way  of  escape,  that  God  had,  in  answer 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  263 

.to  his  prayers,  destroyed  in  a  moment  the  appetite 
Which  had  long  held  him  in  a  close  bondage ;  and 
that,  if  they  would  come  to  Him  and  give  Him 
their  hearts,  He  would  work  in  them  the  same 
miracle  of  spiritual  healing.  As  we  listened  to  his 
confident  speech,  we  felt  how  great  was  the  danger 
in  which  he  himself  stood,  and  how  much  better 
it  would  have  been  for  his  hearers  if  he  had  kept 
silent. 

HOW  MANY  ARE   REALLY  SAVED. 

Facts  are  solid  things,  and  weigh  heavily  in  the 
scale  of  argument.  They  are  not  always  pleasant  to 
look  at ;  but  it  is  weakness  to  ignore  them.  Let  us 
take  a  few  facts  in  connection  with  this  Gospel 
temperance  work.  The  first  of  these  came  to  our 
knowledge  while  we  were  revolving  the  contents  of 
this  chapter,  and  before  we  had  commenced  writing 
it.  A  leading  temperance  worker,  who  was  an 
active  participant  in  the  Murphy  movement,  and 
who  holds  that  there  is  for  the  confirmed  drunkard 
no  hope  or  safety  but  in  the  power  of  religion,  stated 
to  us  that  during  the  Moody  and  Sankey  revival  in 
Philadelphia,  something  over  two  hundred  drunken 
men  were  reclaimed  and  converted ;  changed  in 
heart,  as  it  was  declared,  and  "  saved"  by  the  power 
of  God.  These  were  gathered  together  on  a  certain 
evening  in  one  of  the  churches,  and  the  gentleman 
to  whom  we  have  referred  was  among  those  who 
addressed  them.  The  poor,  weak,  and  in  too  many 


264         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MOXSTER;   OR, 

instances,  friendless  and  homeless  men  were  talked 
to,  and  then  committed  to  God  in  prayer.  They 
had  His  grace  in  their  hearts — had  been  "saved" 
through  prayer  and  faith — and  would  He  not  care 
for,  protect  and  defend  them  ? 

Alas,  for  the  sequel !  Of  all  these  two  hundred 
converted  and  "saved"  men,  who  had,  in  a  mo- 
ment of  time,  been  changed  from  servants  of  sensu- 
ality and  sin  into  children  of  God,  their  souls  made 
"  whiter  than  snow,"  not  over  five  or  six  can  to-day 
be  found  in  the  ranks  of  sober  men ! 

In  and  around  Pittsburgh,  during  the  religious 
temperance  revival  which,  under  Francis  Murphy, 
wrought  such  marvels  in  that  city  and  neighborhood, 
over  fifty  thousand  signatures  were  obtained  to  the 
pledge,  the  signers,  in  a  large  number  of  cases, 
professing  faith  in  Christ,  and  having  an  inner  as- 
surance, as  they  believed,  that  He  would  keep  them, 
by  the  power  of  His  grace,  from  again  falling  into 
the  sin  and  misery  of  intemperance.  But,  to-day, 
only  a  small  proportionate  number  can  be  found 
out  of  this  great  multitude  who  are  standing  fast  by 
their  profession.  A  like  result  has  followed  the 
great  Gospel  work  of  Mr.  Murphy  in  Philadelphia. 
Of  the  thirty  or  forty  thousand  who  signed  the 
pledge  and  professed  to  be  saved  through  faith  in 
Christ,  the  number  of  men  who  have  been  rescued 
from  drunkenness  can  scarcely  be  counted  by  hun- 
dreds ;  and  of  these  the  large  proportion  owe  their 
salvation  to  the  natural  safeguards  and  orderly  ex- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  2(35 

ternal  conditions  which  were  brought  to  the  aid  of 
spiritual  resolve  and  spiritual  forces. 

When  the  excitement  of  these  great  revivals  was 
over,  and  the  contagious  enthusiasm  had  died  away, 
and  men  fell  back  into  their  old  ways,  amid  old 
surroundings  and  temptations,  each  alone  in  the 
house  of  his  own  real  life,  then  came 

THE  TRIAL  AND  THE  TEST, 

and  it  was  found  that  to  depend  on  grace  alone,  and 
the  inner  change  it  had  effected  in  answer  to 
prayer,  was  to  rest,  too  often,  in  a  vain  security. 
The  new  convert  was  the  same  as  to  the  essential 
evil  quality  of  his  life  as  before  his  conversion — or 
turning  round  to  go  the  other  way — and  if  he  stood 
still  where  he  had  turned,  and  did  not,  in  a  new 
life  of  practical  obedience  to  Divine  laws,  walk  for- 
ward in  the  Heavenly  road,  his  conversion  would 
avail  him  nothing.  Not  that  he  was  left  alone  by 
God  to  stand  or  fall  as  he  might.  No  human  heart 
ever  felt  even  the  faintest  motions  of  that  Divine 
pity,  and  compassion,  and  yearning  to  save  his  lost 
and  perishing  children,  which  is  felt  by  our  Heav- 
enly Father,  who  is  very  love  itself.  But  He  can- 
not save  humanity  by  destroying  it,  and  this  destruc- 
tion would  take  place  the  moment  he  touched  man's 
freedom  to  choose  between  good  and  evil.  Of  his 
own  will,  man  has  turned  away  from  God ;  and  of 
his  own  will  he  must  return  to  Him  if  ever  he  re- 
turn at  all.  The  way  of  return  has  been  opened 


266         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

and  made  plain,  and  God  is  forever  calling  and  en- 
treating His  poor,  wandering  ones  to  come  back, 
and  offering  them  strength  to  walk,  and  weapons  to 
fight,  and  armor  for  defense.  But  He  cannot  walk 
for  them,  nor  fight  for  them,  nor  defend  them  un- 
less they  put  on  the  armor  His  mercy  supplies. 
They  must,  of  themselves,  using  the  strength  He 
gives  them,  walk  in  the  Heavenly  way ;  and  with 
the  sword  of  Divine  truth  He  places  in  their  hands, 
do  battle  with  the  enemies  of  their  souls.  There  is 
no  other  means  of  attaining  Heaven.  This  strength 
to  walk  and  fight  and  overcome,  is  the  Divine  grace 
that  saves.  It  is  the  free  gift  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  the  very  power  of  God  unto 
salvation. 

THE  DIVINE  GRACE  THAT  SAVES. 

It  is  by  the  application  of  this  Divine  grace  that 
men  are  saved  from  their  sins  and  from  the  power 
of  hell.  But  they  can  never  receive  it  as  passive 
subjects.  They  must  take  it  and  apply  it  in  and  of 
themselves,  and  use  it  as  if  it  were  their  own  ;  yet 
never  forgetting  that  it  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  never 
ceasing  to  acknowledge  and  thank  Him  for  His  in- 
finite goodness  and  mercy  in  teaching  their  "  hands 
to  war ;"  in  "  girding  "  them  "  with  strength  unto 
the  battle,"  and  in  giving  them  a  "  lamp  unto  their 
feet  and  a  light  unto  their  path,"  so  that  they  may 
walk  in  safety. 

If  salvation  were  of  grace  alone,  as  so  many  teach 
in  this  Gospel  temperance  work,  what  need  of 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CUBE.  267 

"  sword,"  or  "  armor,"  or  a  "  lamp  unto  the  feet  ?" 
for  if,  in  answer  to  prayer  and  faith,  a  man's  evil 
nature  is  instantly  changed,  he  is  no  longer  subject 
to  temptation,  and  cannot,  therefore,  enter  into  com- 
bat with  evil;  and  if  God  lift  him  out  of  the  dark- 
ness of  his  carnal  nature  into  the  light  of  regenera- 
tion solely  in  answer  to  prayer,  what  need  of  any 
lamp  unto  his  feet  or  light  unto  his  path  ?  He  is  no 
longer  a  pilgrim  and  a  wayfarer,  journeying  heaven- 
ward through  an  enemy's  land. 

We  press  this  subject  on  the  reader's  attention, 
because  so  much  of  success  or  failure  in  this  great 
Gospel  temperance  work  depends  on  a  right  undeir- 
standing  of  spiritual  laws  and  a  true  comprehen- 
sion of  the  means  of  salvation.  Holding,  as  we  do, 
that,  for  the  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  unhappy  and  wretched  men  and  women  in  our 
laud  who  have  beconie  the  almost  helpless  slaves  of 
an  appetite  which  is  rarely,  if  ever,  wholly  destroyed, 
no  true  succor  lies  in  anything  but  Divine  grace 
and  help,  we  feel  that  a  great  responsibility  rests 
with  all  who,  in  the  providence  of  God,  have  been 
drawn  into  this  work. 

Referring  to  the  loose,  and  we  cannot  help  saying 
hurtful  teachings  of  too  many  temperance  revi- 
valists, Rev.  Charles  I.  Warren,  writing  in  the 
New  York  Christian  Advocate,  says : 

"  Religious  conversion,  all  are  agreed,  is  the  first 
necessity  for  all  men,  and  especially  for  inebriates, 
as  the  surest  hope  of  a  real  and  permanent  refor- 


2G8         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

mation  of  life.  And  intemperate  men,  especially 
those  who  become  demented  rather  than  demonized, 
it  is  well  known,  are  always  easily  moved  by  reli- 
gious influences,  even  when  so  drunk  that  they 
would  wisely  be  deemed  incompetent  to  execute  a 
will  for  the  disposal  of  earthly  property,  and  inca- 
pable of  giving  testimony  in  a  court  of  law. 

"  Yet,  this  idea  of  a  spiritual  renovation  of  the 
heart,  while  the  head  is  too  intoxicated  to  apprehend 
a  moral  obligation,  is  almost  beyond  rational  belief. 
It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  any  man,  in  such  a 
state  of  voluntarily-induced  imbecility,  too  drunk 
to  hold  intelligent  converse  with  men,  can  be  com- 
petent to  transact  business  with  God,  to  receive  and 
answer  those  calls  from  the  Holy  Spirit  that  decide 
the  eternal  destinies  of  the  soul." 

And  he  adds:  "We  judge  instinctively  that  all 
men,  intemperate  or  sober,  must  work  out  their  own 
salvation  with  fear,  while  God  works  in  them  to  will 
and  to  do." 

This  is  the  key-note  to  the  whole  subject  of  spir- 
itual regeneration.  It  is  active  co-operation ;  work, 
conflict,  victory ;  and  this  down  on  the  sphere  of 
common  life,  and  in  the  midst  of  temptation — not 
out  of  the  world,  but  "  in  the  world ;"  not  some- 
thing done  in  and  for  a  man  while  he  waits  in 
prayer  on  God,  but  after  he  has  fought  his  battle 
with  some  enemy  of  his  soul,  and  overcome  in  the 
strength  which  God  has  given  him  in  answer  to 
prayer.  Only  they  who  have  fought  and  conquered 
can  possess  the  land  and  dwell  there  in  safety. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  209 

AN  UNSOUND  AND  DANGEROUS  DOCTRINE. 

In  a  meeting  at  which  we  were  present,  and  where 
from  one  to  two  hundred  reformed  men  were 
gathered  for  religious  worship,  and  for  help  and 
counsel,  the  hymn  commencing 

"  Prone  to  wander,  Lord  I  feel  it," 

was  sung.  At  its  close,  a  man  rose  from  his  seat  and 
entered  his  protest  against  the  singing  of  that  hymn 
any  more.  It  is  not  true,  he  said,  that  the  man 
whom  God  has  converted  feels  any  proneness  to 
wander.  He  had  had  the  grace  of  God  in  his  soul 
for — we  don't  remember  how  many  years — and  he 
could  testify  that  the  desire  to  wander  from  God's 
commandments  had  been  wholly  removed.  He, 
therefore,  repeated  his  protest  against  the  use  of  a 
hymn  containing  a  sentiment  so  dishonorable  to  a 
truly  saved  Christian.  As  he  sat  down,  a  very 
young  man  arose  and  added  the  weight  of  his  testi- 
mony to  the  assertion  of  his  older  Christian  brother. 
He  also,  in  answer  to  prayer,  as  he  confidently  as- 
serted, had  attained  unto  that  higher  life  which  is 
not  only  free  from  sin,  but  from  even  the  desire  to 
wander  from  the  ways  of  holiness. 

As  we  looked  into  and  read  the  faces  of  these  two 
men,  we  sighed  for  what  we  saw  therein,  and  pitied 
them  for  the  peril  in  which  they  stood.  But  our 
greater  concern  was  for  the  poor,  weak,  almost  help- 
less ones  we  saw  around  us,  and  for  the  effect  of  this 
delusive  error  which  had  been  so  needlessly  thrown 


270         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

into  their  minds.  If  any  of  them  should  rest  in 
the  belief  that  they,  too,  had,  by  the  grace  of  God, 
been  wholly  set  free  from  the  bondage  of  sin ;  that 
the  appetite  for  drink  and  the  lust  of  all  evil  had 
been  extinguished,  and  their  proneness  to  wander 
from  God  taken  away  in  simple  answer  to  prayer, 
then  would  their  danger,  we  felt,  be  so  imminent  as 
to  leave  but  little  room  for  hope  of  their  standing 
in  the  new  life.  A  stumbling-block  had  been  laid 
in  their  way  over  which  they  must  almost  surely  fall. 

We  are  writing  for  the  help  and  safety  of  men 
for  whom  there  is  but  little  or  no  hope  of  rescue 
from  the  depths  of  evil  and  sensuality  into  which 
they  have  fallen,  except  in  a  truly  religious  life ; 
not  a  life  of  mere  faith  and  sentiment  and  fancied 
holiness,  but  of  earnest  conflict  and  daily  right; 
living.  A  life  in  which  not  only  intemperance  is 
to  be  shunned  as  a  sin  against  God,  but  every  im- 
pure and  evil  desire  of  the  heart,  and  every  thought 
and  purpose  of  wrong  to  the  neighbor.  And,  be- 
lieving as  we  do,  that  God's  grace  and  power  can 
only  be  given  to  those  who  will  take  it  as  active 
subjects — not  mere  passive  recipients — and  by  using 
it  as  if  it  were  their  own,  avail  themselves  of  its 
purifying  and  regenerating  influence,  we  can  do  no 
less  than  question  and  reject  any  doctine  that  even 
seems  to  give  a  different  impression,  as  delusive  and 
exceedingly  dangerous. 

To  make  Gospel  temperance  the  true  power  of 
God  unto  the  salvation  of  intemperate  men,  we 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  271 

must  have  in  it,  and  with  it,  the  Gospel  of  conflict 
with  evil,  the  Gospel  of  daily  right  living,  the  Gos- 
pel of  love  to  the  neighbor  and  the  Gospel  of  com- 
mon sense.  And  these  are  coming  more  and  more 
into  the  work,  which  is  widening  and  increasing, 
and  every  year  adding  thousands  upon  thousands  to 
the  number  of  those  who  are  saved  from  the  curse 
of  drink. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

TEMPERANCE  COFFEE-HOUSES  AND  FRIENDLY  INNS. 

THE  cure  of  a  drunkard  is  always  attended  with 
peculiar  difficulties.  The  cost  is  often  great. 
Sometimes  cure  is  found  to  be  impossible.  A  hun- 
dred may  be  protected  from  the  ravages  of  intem- 
perance at  the  cost  of  saving  one  who  has  fallen  a 
victim  to  the  terrible  malady.  "An  ounce  of  pre- 
vention is  worth  a  pound  of  cure." 

While  so  much  is  being  done  to  reform  and  save 
the  drunkard,  the  work  of  prevention  has  not  been 
forgotten.  Great  good  has  been  accomplished  in 
this  direction  through  the  spread  of  total-abstinence 
principles.  In  this  the  various  temperance  organi- 
zations have  done  much,  and  especially  with  the 
rising  generation.  But,  so  long  as  men  are  licensed 
by  the  State  to  sell  intoxicating  drinks,  the  net  of 
the  tempter  is  spread  on  every  hand,  and  thousands 
of  the  weak  and  unwary  are  yearly  drawn  therein 
and  betrayed  to  their  ruin.  In  our  great  cities  a 
large  number  of  men  who  have  to  do  business  at 
points  remote  from  their  dwellings,  are  exposed  to 
special  temptations.  The  down-town  lunch-room 
and  dining-room  have,  in  most  cases,  their  drinking- 
bars ;  or,  if  no  bar  is  visible,  the  bill  of  fare  offers, 
272 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  273 

in  too  many  cases,  any  kind  of  intoxicating  beverage 
that  may  be  desired.  Thousands  of  men  are,  in 
consequence,  yearly  led  away  from  sobriety. 

Seeing  this,  efforts  have  been  made  during  the 
past  few  years  to  establish  cheap  temperance  coffee- 
houses, where  workingmen  and  others  may  get  a 
good  noonday  lunch,  or  a  morning  and  evening 
meal  at  a  trifling  cost.  In  all  cases,  these  have 
been  found  of  great  service  to  the  cause  of  temper- 
ance. A  pint  mug  of  excellent  coffee,  with  sugar 
and  milk,  and  a  large,  sweet  roll,  costing  five  cents, 
are  found  to  make  a  far  better  and  healthier  lunch 
than  the  highly-seasoned  hashes  and  scraps  called 
"  free  lunches,"  which  must  be  washed  down  by  a 
five  or  ten-cent  glass  of  liquor. 

THE  EXPERIMENT  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

The  success  which  has  attended  the  establishment 
of  cheap  temperance  coffee-houses  in  this  city  (Phila- 
delphia), is  quite  remarkable.  In  the  fall  of  1874, 
Joshua  L.  Baily,  one  of  our  active,  clear-headed  mer- 
chants, who  had  been  for  many  years  an  earnest 
temperance  man,  determined  to  give  the  cheap 
coffee-house  experiment  a  fair  trial,  cost  what  it 
might ;  for  he  saw  that  if  it  could  be  made  success- 
ful, it  would  be  a  powerful  agency  in  the  work  of 
prevention.  He  began  in  a  modest  way,  taking  a 
small  store  at  the  corner  of  Market  and  Fifteenth 
Streets,  and  fitting  it  up  in  a  neat  and  attractive 
manner.  With  a  few  pounds  of  coffee,  and  a  few 


274          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

dozens  of  rolls,  the  place  was  opened,  the  single 
attendant,  a  woman,  acting  the  double  part  of  cook 
and  waiter.  For  five  cents  a  pint  mug  of  the  best 
Java  coffee,  with  milk  and  sugar,  and  a  good-sized 
roll,  were  furnished. 

From  the  very  start  "  The  Workingmen's  Central 
Coffee-House,"  as  Mr.  Baily  called  it,  was  successful. 
In  the  immediate  neighborhood  five  hundred  work- 
men were  employed  on  the  city  buildings,  and  oppo- 
site stood  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  freight  depot,  to 
which  came  daily  about  the  same  number  of  men — 
draymen,  teamsters  and  others.  It  took  but  a  few 
days  to  so  crowd  the  new  coffee-room  at  the  usual 
lunching  time  as  to  require  an  additional  assistant. 
From  day  to  day  the  business  went  on  increasing, 
until  more  help  and  larger  accommodations  became 
necessary.  Soon  a  complete  kitchen  had  to  be  built 
in  the  basement,  and  the  adjoining  store  added,  in 
order  to  meet  the  steadily-enlarging  demands  upon 
the  new  establishment.  The  fame  of  the  good  coffee, 
which  was  better  than  most  people  found  at  home, 
spread  far  and  near,  and  larger  and  larger  numbers 
of  clerks,  workingmen  and  others,  turned  their 
steps  daily,  at  lunch  time,  towards  the  Central 
Coffee-House.  It  was  so  much  better  than  the  poor 
stuff  served  in  most  of  the  eating-houses;  and,  with 
the  sweet  roll  added,  so  much  better  than  the  free 
lunch  and  glass  of  beer  or  whisky  with  which  too 
many  had  been  accustomed  to  regale  themselves. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  275 

SIGNAL  SUCCESS. 

Steadily  swelled  the  tide  of  custom.  Within  a 
year  a  third  store,  adjoining,  was  added.  But  the 
enlarged  premises  soon  proved  inadequate  to  the 
accommodation  of  the  still-increasing  crowd. 

At  this  writing  "The  Central"  is  from  six  to 
seven  times  larger  than  when  first  opened;  and 
there  lunch  in  its  rooms,  daily,  nearly  two  thousand 
persons.  One  room  has  been  fitted  up  for  ladies 
exclusively,  in  which  from  forty  to  fifty  can  lunch 
at  one  time. 

But  Mr.  Baily  looked  beyond  the  cheap  coffee 
and  rolls  by  which  he  was  able  to  keep  so  many 
away  from  bar-rooms  and  restaurants  where  liquor 
was  sold.  He  believed  in  other  influences  and  safe- 
guards. And  to  this  end,  and  at  his  own  cost,  he 
fitted  up  the  various  rooms  over  the  seven  stores  ex- 
tendinar  alone:  Market  Street  from  Fifteenth  to 

o  O 

Broad,  in  which  the  coffee-rooms  are  located,  and 
set  them  apart  for  various  uses.  Here  is  a  lecture- 
hall,  capable  of  seating  four  hundred  persons ;  a 
free  reading-room,  well  warmed  and  lighted  and 
supplied  with  the  best  daily  newspapers,  American 
and  English  illustrated  publications,  and  the  stand- 
ard periodicals ;  besides  four  other  rooms  that  will 
hold  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  persons,  which 
are  used  for  various  meeting  purposes,  all  in  con- 
nection with  temperance.  Five  regular  services  are 
held  in  the  lecture-room  every  week,  viz.:  "  Bible 
Reading,"  on  Sunday  afternoon  ;  "  Temperance  Ex- 


276         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

perience  meeting,"  on  Monday  evening ;  "  Prayer 
and  Praise  meeting,"  Tuesday  evening ;  "  Gospel 
Temperance  meeting,"  on  Thursday  evening ;  and 
"  Youths'  Temperance  meeting,"  Friday  evening. 
These  meetings  are  often  crowded,  and,  like  the 
coffee-rooms  below,  attract  audiences  made  up  from 
every  rank  in  society.  At  many  of  these  meetings, 
Mr.  Baily  presides  in  person. 

Encouraged  by  the  success  of  this  first  effort,  Mr. 
Baily  opened  another  cheap  coffee-house  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  wholesale  trade  of  the  city,  where 
thousands  of  clerks,  workingmen  and  merchants 
were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  for  lunch  or  dinner 
to  the  restaurants  and  bar-rooms  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. This,  located  at  No.  31  South  Fourth  Street, 
he  called  "The  Model  Coffee-House." 

CKOWDED  FROM  THE  FIKST. 

From  the  first  it  was  crowded  even  to  an  uncom- 
fortable extent.  The  demands  of  its  patrons  soon 
rendered  larger  quarters  a  necessity.  A  new  build- 
ing was  erected  specially  adapted  to  the  purpose, 
many  novel  features  being  introduced  which  a  twelve- 
month's experience  had  suggested. 

The  new  "  Model "  opened  June  1st,  187G.  Many 
persons  thought  it  was  too  large,  and  that  it  would 
never  be  filled.  But  it  was  thronged  on  the  day  of 
opening,  and  on  every  day  since  the  demands  upon 
it  have  been  fully  up  to  its  capacity.  The  nuni" 
ber  lunching  here  daily  is  about  three  thousand. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  277 

In  the  establishment  of  the  coffee-houses  there 
were,  of  course,  many  mistakes,  the  results  of  inex- 
perience. Many  things  had  to  be  unlearned  as 
well  as  many  learned.  But  mistakes  were  promptly 
corrected.  With  the  growth  of  the  work,  ability  to 
provide  for  it  seemed  to  keep  pace,  and  modifications 
in  the  management  were  adopted  as  necessity  dic- 
tated. Not  much  was  anticipated  at  the  commence- 
ment beyond  furnishing  a  mug  of  coffee  and  a  roll 
of  bread,  but  it  soon  became  apparent  that  something 
more  than  this  was  needed.  To  meet  this  necessity, 
the  coffee-house  bill  of  fare  was  greatly  extended, 
and  now  quite  a  variety  of  nutritious  and  substantial 
dishes  are  provided,  and  each  at  the  uniform  price 
of  jive  cents.  The  main  feature — the  coffee — is, 
however,  preserved.  A  full  pint  mug  of  the  best 
Java  (equal  to  two  ordinary  cups)  with  pure,  rich 
milk  and  white  sugar,  and  two  ounces  of  either 
wheat  or  brown  bread,  all  for  Jive  cents,  is  the 
every-day  lunch  of  many  a  man  who,  but  for  this 
provision,  would  be  found  in  the  dram-shop. 

No  dish,  as  we  have  said,  costs  over  five  cents, 
which  is  the  standard  price  the  year  round,  whatever 
the  fluctuations  of  markets  may  be.  In  addition 
to  the  bread  and  coffee  already  mentioned  for  five 
cents,  the  bill  of  fare  comprises  puddings  of  rice, 
tapioca  and  corn  starch,  baked  apples  dressed  with 
sugar  and  milk,  all  sorts  of  pies  (half  a  pie  being 
given  for  a  portion),  mushes  of  cracked  wheat,  corn 
and  oatmeal,  dumplings,  eggs,  potatoes,  beans,  ham, 


278          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

corned  beef,  liver,  "scrapple,"  sausage,  custards, 
soups,  pickles  and,  in  season,  fresh  fruits.  Of  bread, 
there  are  Boston  and  Philadelphia  brown,  wheat, 
Philadelphia  and  Vienna  rolls.  A  pint  glass  of 
milk  with  a  roll,  costs  five  cents ;  butter  three  cents, 
and  extra  rolls  one  cent  each;  so  that  for  ten  or 
fifteen  cents  a  man  gets  a  full  luncheon,  as  every 
portion  of  food  is  equal  to  a  large  saucer  heaped. 

These  establishments  require,  of  course,  the  most 
methodical,  orderly  and  careful  management,  with 
capable  matrons  at  the  head  of  each,  and  a  steward 
or  superintendent  to  make  intelligent  purchases. 
At  the  "  Model  Coffee-House,"  there  are  nearly  fifty 
employees,  and,  excepting  three  or  four  men,  they 
are  girls  and  women.  The  upper  rooms  of  the 
building  are  for  the  lodgings,  offices,  laundry  and 
drawing-room,  for  the  use  of  the  employees.  The 
girls,  who  are  mostly  of  country  birth  and  training, 
are  thus  furnished  with  a  good  and  safe  home,  where 
they  have  books  and  music,  large  and  well-furnished 
chambers,  a  good  table — they  dine  at  one  family 
table  in  their  own  dining-room — and  have  their 
washing  and  ironing  done  in  the  house.  They  are 
required  to  be  neat  and  tidy  in  appearance,  respect- 
able and  discreet  in  character  and  manner. 

THE  GOOD  DONE. 

The  good  that  is  done  through  an  instrumentality 
like  this  can  never  be  fully  known.  Of  those  who 
are  drawn  into  paths  of  safety,  we  do  not  so  often 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  279 

hear  as  of  those  who  are  led  astray.  But  enough 
is  already  known  of  the  good  done  by  these  two 
coffee-houses  to  give  large  encouragement  for  their 
establishment  in  other  localities  and  other  cities. 
Hundreds  of  young  men  who  had  fallen  into  the 
dangerous  habit  of  taking  a  glass  of  beer  every  day 
with  their  lunch,  now  take  a  fragrant  cup  of  coffee 
instead,  and  find  themselves  better  for  the  change ; 
hundreds  more  who  had  begun  to  feel  the  insidious 
encroachments  of  appetite,  have  been  able  to  get  out 
of  the  way  of  temptation. 

The  question  that  naturally  arises  with  all  who 
look  practically  at  this  matter  is,  whether  there  is 
any  profit  in  the  business  of  keeping  a  cheap  tem- 
perance coffee-house?  Can  a  pint  of  coffee,  with 
sugar,  milk  and  a  two-ounce  roll  of  bread,  be  fur- 
nished for  five  cents  and  leave  any  margin  for  profit  ? 
Mr.  Baily's  experiment  has  proved  that  it  can. 

FKIENDLY  INNS. 

But  not  alone  in  Philadelphia  is  the  cheap  coffee- 
house to  be  found.  There  are  hundreds  of  them  in 
our  various  towns  and  cities,  though  none  on  so 
large  a  scale  as  here ;  and  they  are  rapidly  multi- 
plying and  doing  good.  "  The  Friendly  Inn,"  and 
"  The  Holly-Tree  Inn,"  are  places  somewhat  similar 
in  character,  but  partaking  more  of  the  nature  of 
an  "  inn  "  than  a  simple  eating-house.  These  have, 
usually,  a  pleasant  parlor,  with  light,  and  warmth, 
and  books,  into  which  any  one  may  come  and  pass 


280          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR,    , 

the  evening,  instead  of  drifting  into  a  saloon,  and 
where  cheap  meals  and  lodgings  can  be  had  if 
needed.  In  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Christian  temperance 
work,  which  is  very  large  and  effective,  is  carried 
on  almost  entirely  in  connection  with  "Friendly 
Inns,"  of  which  there  are  five.  A  chapel,  reading- 
room,  sleeping  apartments  and  a  cheap  restaurant 
are  maintained  in  connection  with  each  of  these 
inns.  The  women  engaged  in  the  cause  of  Gospel 
temperance  in  that  city  regard  them  as  most  valuable 
auxiliaries  to  the  spiritual  work  in  which  they  are 
engaged.  In  a  large  number  of  cases,  they  have  been 
the  direct  means  of  bringing  men  in  whom  few  traces 
of  goodness  could  at  first  be  discerned  in  such  con- 
tact with  religious  influences  as  to  win  them  over  to 
a  better  life. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TEMPEKANCE    LITEK  ATUKE. 

THE  greatest  and  most  effective  agency  in  any 
work  of  enlightenment  and  reform  is  the  press. 
By  it  the  advanced  thinker  and  Christian  philan- 
thropist is  able  to  speak  to  the  whole  people,  and  to 
instruct,  persuade  and  influence  them.  He  can 
address  the  reason  and  conscience  of  thousands,  and 
even  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  to  whom 
he  could  never  find  access  in  any  other  way,  and  so 
turn  their  minds  to  the  right  consideration  of  ques- 
tions of  social  interest  in  regard  to  which  they  had 
been,  from  old  prejudices  or  habits  of  thinking,  in 
doubt  or  grievous  error. 

~No  cause  has  been  more  largely  indebted  to  the 
press  than  that  of  temperance  reform.  From  the 
very  beginning  of  agitation  on  the  subject  of  this 
reform,  the  press  has  been  used  with  great  efficiency; 
and  to-day,  the  literature  of  temperance  is  a  force 
of  such  magnitude  and  power,  that  it  is  moving 
whole  nations,  and  compelling  Parliaments,  Chambers 
of  Deputies  and  Houses  of  Congress  to  consider  the 
claims  of  a  question  which,  if  presented  fifty  years 
ago,  would  have  been  treated,  in  these  grave  assem- 
blages, with  levity  or  contempt. 


282         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

For  many  years  after  the  reform  movement  began 
in  this  country,  the  press  was  used  with  marked 
effect.  But  as  most  of  the  books,  pamphlets  and 
tracts  which  were  issued  came  through  individual 
enterprise,  the  editions  were  often  small  and  the 
prices  high ;  and  as  the  sale  of  such  publications 
was  limited,  and  the  profit,  if  any,  light,  the  efforts 
to  create  a  broad  and  comprehensive  temperance 
literature  met  with  but  feeble  encouragement.  But 
in  1865,  a  convention  was  called  to  meet  at  Saratoga 
to  consider  the  subject  of  a  national  organization  so 
comprehensive  and  practical  that  all  the  friends  of 
temperance  in  religious  denominations  and  temper- 
ance organizations  could  unite  therein  for  common 
work.  Out  of  this  convention  grew  the 

NATIONAL   TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY  AND  PUBLICATION 

HOUSE, 

which  began,  at  once,  the  creation  of  a  temperance 
literature  worthy  of  the  great  cause  it  represented. 
The  president  of  this  society  is  Hon.  William  E. 
Dodge,  of  New  York.  The  vice-presidents  are 
ninety-two  in  number,  and  include  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  in  the  country ;  clergymen,  jurists, 
statesmen,  and  private  citizens  eminent  for  their 
public  spirit  and  philanthropy.  It  has  now  been 
in  existence  some  twelve  years.  Let  us  see  what  it 
has  done  in  that  time  for  temperance  literature  and 
the  direction  and  growth  of  a  public  sentiment  ad- 
Verse  to  the  liquor  traffic.  We  let  the  efficient  cor- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  283 

responding  secretary  and  publishing  agent,  J.  N. 
Stearns,  speak  for  the  association  he  so  ably  repre- 
sents. Its  rooms  are  at  No.  58  Reade  Street,  New 
York.  Referring  to  the  initial  work  of  the  society, 
"It  was  resolved,"  says  Mr.  Stearns,  "that  the 
publishing  agent  should  keep  *  all  the  temperance 
literature  of  the  day.'  This  was  found  to  consist  of 
less  than  a  dozen  different  publications  in  print,  and 
these  of  no  special  value.  All  the  plates  of  valuable 
works  before  in  existence  were  either  shipped  across 
the  water  or  melted  up  and  destroyed.  The  society 
commenced  at  once  to  create  a  literature  of  its  own, 
but  found  it  was  not  the  work  of  a  moment.  The 
first  publication  outside  of  its  monthly  paper,  was  a 
four-page  tract  by  Rev.  T.  L.  Cuyler,  D.D.,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1866,  entitled  '  A  Shot  at  the  Decanter/  of 
which  about  two  hundred  thousand  copies  have 
been  published. 

FIEST  BOOK  PUBLISHED. 

"  The  first  book  was  published  in  May  of  the 
same  year,  entitled,  'Scripture  Testimony  against 
Intoxicating  Wine.'  Prizes  were  offered  for  the 
best  tracts  and  books,  and  the  best  talent  in  the 
land  sought  and  solicited  to  aid  in  giving  light  upon 
every  phase  of  the  question.  The  result  has  been 
that  an  immense  mass  of  manuscripts  have  been 
received,  examined,  assorted,  some  approved  and 
many  rejected,  and  the  list  of  publications  has  gone 
on  steadily  increasing,  until  in  the  eleven  years  it 


284         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER ;   OR, 

amounts  to  four  hundred  and  fifty  varieties  upon 
every  branch  of  the  temperance  question.  There 
were  over  twenty  separate  so-called  secret  temper- 
ance societies,  each  with  a  different  ritual  and  con- 
stitution, with  subordinate  organizations  scattered 
all  over  the  land.  These  contained  probably  about 
one  million  of  members.  Then  there  were  churches, 
open  societies,  State  temperance  unions,  etc.,  each 
operating  independently  and  with  no  common  bond 
of  union.  Some  were  for  moral  suasion  alone, 
others  for  political  action,  while  others  were  for  both 
united.  The  great  need  for  some  national  organi- 
zation which  should  be  a  common  centre  and 
ground  of  union,  a  medium  of  communication  be- 
tween all,  and  to  aid,  strengthen  and  benefit  every 
existing  organization  and  denomination,  was  felt  all 
over  the  land. 

"This  society  was  organized  to  supply  such  a 
need.  It  is  both  a  society  and  a  publication  house. 
The  need  and  demand  came  from  every  quarter  for 
facts,  statistics,  arguments  and  appeals  upon  every 
phase  of  the  question,  in  neat,  cheap  and  compact 
form,  which  could  be  sent  everywhere  and  used  by 
everybody.  Public  opinion  had  settled  down  against 
us,  and  light  was  needed  to  arouse  it  to  right  action. 
The  pulpit  and  the  platform  were  to  be  supplemented 
by  the  press,  which,  henceforth,  was  to  be  used  in 
this  great  and  rapidly  strengthening  cause,  as  in 
every  other,  to  reach  the  individuals  and  homes  of 
every  portion  of  the  land. 


THE  CURSE  AND   THE  CURE.  285 

AFTER  TWELVE  YEAES. 

"Twelve  years  have  passed — years  of  anxious 
preparation  and  toil,  of  seed-planting  and  sowing, 
and  they  have  been  improved.  This  society  now 
publishes  books  and  tracts  upon  the  moral,  economi- 
cal, physiological,  political,  financial,  religious,  medi- 
cal and  social  phases  of  the  reform.  We  have  the 
writings  of  over  two  hundred  different  persons  in 
almost  every  walk  and  station  in  life.  We  already 
have  a  literature  of  no  mean  character.  Its  influ- 
ence is  not  only  felt  in  every  State  and  Territory  in 
the  land,  but  in  every  country  on  the  globe. 

£4ti|t'4st4t44i 

"Among  the  early  publications  of  the  society 
were  those  printed  upon  'The  Adulteration  of 
Liquors,'  '  The  Physiological  Action  of  Alcohol/ 
'Alcohol:  Its  Nature  and  Effects/  'Alcohol:  Its 
Place  and  Power/  'Is  Alcohol  Food?'  'Text- 
Book  of  Temperance/  etc.,  followed  later  by  '  Bac- 
chus Dethroned/  'The  Medical  Use  of  Alcohol/ 
'  Is  Alcohol  a  Neccessary  of  Life  ?'  '  Our  Wasted 
Resources/  '  On  Alcohol/  '  Prohibition  does  Pro- 
hibit/ 'Fruits  of  the  Liquor  Traffic/  'The  Throne  of 
Iniquity/  '  Suppression  of  the  Liquor  Traffic/  'Al- 
cohol as  a  Food  and  Medicine/  etc. 

"  The  truths  of  these  books  and  pamphlets,  which 
have  been  reproduced  in  a  thousand  ways  in  ser- 
mons, addresses,  newspapers,  etc.,  have  already  per- 
meated the  community  to  such  an  extent  as  to  bear 
much  fruit." 


286         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

In  the  creation  of  a  literature  for  children,  the 
society  early  issued  The  Youths'  Temperance  Ban- 
ner, a  paper  for  Sunday-schools.  This  has  attained  a 
circulation  of  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand copies  monthly.  It  has  also  created  a  Sunday- 
school  temperance  library,  which  numbers  already 
as  many  as  seventy  bound  volumes;  editions  of 
which  reaching  in  the  aggregate  to  one  hundred 
and  eighty-three  thousand  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
six  volumes  have  already  been  sold.  The  society 
also  publishes  a  monthly  paper  called  the  National 
Temperance  Advocate,  which  has  a  wide  circulation. 

KEMAKKABLE  GROWTH  OF  TEMPERANCE  LITERATURE. 

The  number  of  books,  pamphlets  and  tracts  which 
have  been  issued  by  the  National  Temperance  So- 
ciety during  the  twelve  years  of  its  existence,  is  four 
hundred  and  sixty,  some  of  them  large  and  import- 
ant volumes. 

To  this  extraordinary  production  and  growth  of 
temperance  literature  in  the  past  twelve  years  are 
the  people  indebted  for  that  advanced  public  senti- 
ment which  is  to-day  gathering  such  force  and  will. 

And  here,  let  us  say,  in  behalf  of  a  society  which 
has  done  such  grand  and  noble  work,  that  from  the 
very  outset  it  has  had  to  struggle  with  pucuniary 
difficulties. 

Referring  to  the  difficulties  and  embarrassments 
with  which  the  society  has  had  to  contend  from  the 
beginning,  the  secretary  says : 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  287 

"  The  early  financial  struggles  of  the  society  are 
known  only  to  a  very  few  persons.  It  was  deemed 
best  by  the  majority  of  the  board  not  to  let  the 
public  know  our  poverty.  Looking  back  over  the 
eleven  years  of  severe  struggles,  pecuniary  embar- 
rassments, unexpected  difficulties,  anxious  days, 
toiling,  wearisome  nights,  with  hopes  of  relief  dashed 
at  almost  every  turn,  surrounded  by  the  indifference 
of  friends,  and  with  the  violent  opposition  of  enemies, 
we  can  only  wonder  that  the  society  has  breasted  the 
storm  and  is  saved  from  a  complete  and  total  wreck. 
*  *  *  This  society  never  was  endowed,  never  had 
a  working  capital,  never  has  been  the  recipient  of 
contributions  from  churches  or  of  systematic  dona- 
tions from  individuals.  It  never  has  had  a  day  of 
relief  from  financial  embarrassment  since  its  organi- 
zation ;  and  yet  there  never  has  been  a  day  but  that 
the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  would  have  lifted  it 
out  of  its  embarrassments  and  started  it  with  a  buoy- 
ant heart  on  towards  the  accomplishment  of  its 
mission." 

And  he  adds :  "  Notwithstanding  all  these  con- 
stant and  ever-pressing  financial  embarrassments,  the 
society  has  never  faltered  for  one  moment,  but  has 
gone  steadily  on  doing  its  appointed  work,  exploring 
new  fields,  and  developing  both  old  and  new  truths 
and  documents  and  principles,  and  it  stands  to-day 
the  strongest  and  most  solid  and  substantial  bulwark 
against  intemperance  in  the  land." 


288         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 
A  MOST  IMPORTANT  AGENCY. 

As  the  most  important  of  all  the  agencies  now 
used  for  the  suppression  of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  as 
the  efficient  ally  of  all  let  us  rally  to  the  support  of 
our  great  publication  house  and  see  that  it  has 
ampler  means  for  the  work  in  which  it  is  engaged. 
There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women 
in  our  land  who  are  happy  and  prosperous  to-day 
because  of  what  this  society  has  done  in  the  last 
twelve  years  to  create  a  sentiment  adverse  to  the 
traffic  and  to  the  drinking  usages  of  society.  Its 
work  is  so  silent  and  unobtrusive  in  comparison 
with  that  of  many  other  efficient,  but  more  limited 
instrumentalities,  that  we  are  apt  to  lose  sight  of 
its  claims,  and  to  fail  in  giving  an  adequate  support 
to  the  very  power,  which  is,  in  a  large  measure,  the 
source  of  power  to  all  the  rest. 

If  we  would  war  successfully  with  our  strong  and 
defiant  enemy,  we  must  look  to  it  that  the  literature 
of  temperance  does  not  languish.  We  are  not 
making  it  half  as  efficient  as  it  might  be.  Here  we 
have.a  thoroughly  organized  publication  house,  with 
capable  and  active  agents,  which,  if  the  means  were 
placed  at  its  disposal,  could  flood  the  country  with 
books,  pamphlets  and  tracts  by  millions  every  year; 
and  we  leave  it  to  struggle  with  embarrassments, 
and  to  halting  and  crippled  work.  This  is  not  well. 
Our  literature  is  our  right  arm  in  this  great  conflict, 
and  only  in  the  degree  that  we  strengthen  this  arm 
will  we  be  successful  in  our  pursuit  of  victory. 


FINANCIAL  VIEW  OF  THE  LICENSE  SYSTEM. 

•  Whatever  revenue  license  pays  the  State  is  fully  counterbalanced  by  the 
Increased  cost  of  jails,  poorhouses  and  police,  for  which  the  patient  public  pays 
immense  taxation.  The  moral  burdens  from  the  iniamous  traffic  are  all  addi- 
tional to  the  financial." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

LICENSE  A  FAILURE  AND  A  DISGEACE. 

j  over  two  hundred  years  in  this  country,  and 
J-  for  a  much  longer  period  of  time  in  Great 
Britain  and  some  of  the  countries  of  Continental 
Europe,  attempts  have  been  made  to  protect  the  peo- 
ple against  the  evils  of  intemperance  by  restrictive 
liquor  laws.  But  as  these  laws  were  permissive  and 
not  prohibitory,  the  evil  was  not  restrained.  Nay, 
its  larger  growth  came  as  the  natural  consequence 
of  such  laws,  for  they  not  only  gave  to  a  few  men 
in  every  community  the  right  to  live  and  grow  rich 
by  doing  all  in  their  power  to  increase  the  evil,  but 
threw  around  them  the  protection  of  the  State  ;  so 
leaving  the  people  powerless  in  their  hands. 

HISTORY  OF  LICENSE  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  history  of  all  restrictive  laws  which  have 
stopped  short  of  absolute  prohibition,  is  a  history  of 
the  saddest  of  failures,  and  shows  that  to  license  an 
evil  is  to  increase  its  power. 

Judge  Robert  C.  Pitman,  in  his  "Alcohol  and  the 
State,"  an  exceedingly  valuable  discussion  of  the 
"  Problem  of  Law  as  Applied  to  the  Liquor  Traffic," 
gives  an  instructive  history  of  the  license  laws  of 

291 


292         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

Massachusetts  from  early  colonial  times  down  to  the 
year  1877.  The  experience  of  Massachusetts  is 
that  of  every  other  community,  State  or  nation, 
which  has  sought  to  repress  drunkenness  and  its 
attendant  evils  by  the  enactment  of  license  laws; 
and  we  ask  the  reader's  earnest  and  candid  consid- 
eration of  the  facts  we  shall  here  present. 

As  early  as  1636,  an  effort  was  made  in  the  Old 
Colony  to  lessen  intemperance  by  the  passage  of  a 
restrictive  law,  declaring  "  That  none  be  suffered  to 
retail  wine,  strong  water  or  beer,  either  within  doors 
or  without,  except  in  inns  or  victualing-houses  al- 
lowed." That  this  law  did  not  lessen  the  evil  of 
drunkenness  is  plain  from  the  fact  that,  in  1646,  in 
the  preamble  to  a  new  liquor  law  it  was  declared  by 
the  Massachusetts  colony  that,  "Forasmuch  as  drunk- 
enness is  a  vice  to  be  abhorred  of  all  nations,  es- 
pecially of  those  who  hold  out  and  profess  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ,  and  seeing  any  strict  law  will  not  pre- 
vail unless  the  cause  be  taken  away,  it  is,  therefore, 
ordered  by  this  Court," — What  ?  Entire  prohibition 
of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks?  No.  Only, 
"That  no  merchant,  cooper  or  any  other  person 
whatever,  shall,  after  the  first  day  of  the  first  month, 
sell  any  wine  under  one-quarter  of  a  cask,  neither 
by  quart,  gallon  or  any  other  measure,  but  only  such 
taverners  as  are  licensed  to  sell  by  the  gallon" 
And  in  order  still  further  to  protect  and  encourage 
the  publican  in  his  vested  and  exclusive  right,  it 
was  further  enacted  tl.ut,  "Any  taverncrs  or  other 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  293 

persons  who  shall  inform  against  any  transgressor, 
shall  have  one-half  of  the  fines  for  his  encourage- 
ment" This  law  contained  a  section  which  forbids 
any  person  licensed  "  to  sell  strong  waters,  or  any 
private  housekeeper  to  permit  any  person  to  sit 
drinking  or  tippling  strong  waters,  wine  or  strong 
beer  in  their  houses." 

THE  EVIL  STILL  INCREASING. 

Still  the  evil  of  drunkenness  went  on  increasing 
under  the  license  system,  until  in  1692,  we  find  in 
a  preamble  to  certain  more  stringent  laws  for  the 
regulation  of  the  traffic,  this  sad  confession :  "And 
forasmuch  as  the  ancient,  true  and  principal  use  of 
inns,  taverns,  ale-houses,  victualing-houses  arid 
other  houses  for  common  entertainment  is  for  re- 
ceipt, relief  and  lodging  of  travelers  and  strangers, 
and  the  refreshment  of  persons  on  lawful  business. 
*  *  *  And  not  for  entertainment  and  harboring 
of  lewd  or  idle  people  to  spend  or  consume  their 
time  or  money  there ;  therefore,  to  prevent  the  mis- 
chief and  great  disorders  happening  daily  by  abuse 
of  such  houses,  It  is  further  enacted,"  etc. — not 
prohibition  of  the  sale ;  but  further  restrictions  and 
penalties.  How  far  these  restrictions  and  penalties 
were  effective,  appears  from  the  statue  of  1695,  in 
the  preamble  of  which  is  a  complaint  that  divers 
persons  who  had  obtained  license  to  sell  liquor  to  be 
taken  away  and  not  drunk  in  their  houses,  did,  not- 
withstanding, "  give  entertainment  to  persons  to  sit 


T94          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

drinking  and  tippling  there,"  while  others  who 
"  have  no  license  at  all  are  yet  so  hardy  as  to  run 
upon  the  law,"  to  the  "  great  increase  of  drunkenness 
and  other  debaucheries." 

These  colonial  fathers,  in  their  efforts  to  lessen 
the  evil  of  drinking  by  restrictive  license,  for  which 
a  fee  to  the  State  was  required,  opened  a  door 
for  the  unlicensed  dram-shop,  which  was  then,  as  it 
is  now,  one  of  the  worst  forms  of  the  liquor  traffic, 
because  it  is  in  the  hands  of  more  unscrupulous 
persons,  too  many  of  whom  are  of  the  lowest  and 
vilest  class,  and  whose  tippling-houses  are  dens  of 
crime  and  infamy  as  well  as  drunkenness. 

How  this  was  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts 
under  license  in  1695  is  seen  above,  and  further 
appears  in  this  recital  taken  from  the  statute  to  fur- 
ther limit  the  spread  of  drunkenness,  wherein  it 
refers  to  "divers  ill-disposed  and  indigent  persons,  the 
pains  and  penalties  in  the  laws  already  made  not 
regarding,  who  are  so  hardy  as  to  presume  to  sell 
and  retail  strong  beer,  ale,  cider,  sherry  wine,  rum 
or  other  strong  liquors  or  mixed  drinks,  and  to  keep 
common  tippling-houses,  thereby  harboring  and  en- 
tertaining apprentices,  Indians,  negroes  and  other 
idle  and  dissolute  persons,  tending  to  the  ruin  and 
impoverishment  of  families,  and  all  impieties  and 
debaucheries,  and  if  detected  are  unable  to  pay  their 
fine"  All  such  were  sentenced  to  the  whipping-post. 

Three  years  later,  the  curse  of  the  licensed  traffic 
had  so  augmented  that  another  effort  was  made  for 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  295 

its  regulation  oy  the  enactment  of  a  new  and  more 
comprehensive  law  entitled,  "An  Act  for  the  In- 
specting and  Suppressing  of  Disorders  in  Licensed 
Houses." 

WORSE  AND  WORSE. 

How  successful  the  good  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  in  holding  in  check  and  regulating  the  evil 
which  they  had  clothed  with  power  by  license,  ap- 
pears in  the  preamble  to  a  new  Act  passed  in  1711, 
"  For  reclaiming  the  over  great  number  of  licensed 
houses,  many  of  which  are  chiefly  used  for  revelling 
and  tippling,  and  become  nurseries  of  intemperance 
and  debauchery,  indulged  by  the  masters  and  keep- 
ers of  the  same  for  the  sake  of  gain." 

So  it  went  on,  from  bad  to  worse,  under  the  Colo- 
nial Government,  until  1787,  when  the  State  con- 
stitution was  adopted.  To  what  a  frightful  magni- 
tude the  evil  of  drunkenness,  provided  for  and 
fostered  by  license,  had  grown,  appears  from  an 
entry  in  the  diary  of  John  Adams,  under  date  of 
February  29th,  17GO,  in  which  he  says  that  few 
things  were  "so  fruitful  of  destructive  evils"  as 
"  licensed  houses."  They  had  become,  he  declares, 
"  the  eternal  haunts  of  loose,  disorderly  people  of  the 
town,  which  renders  them  offensive  and  unfit  for  the 
entertainment  of  any  traveler  of  the  least  delicacy." 
#  :•:  #  u  Young  people  are  tempted  to  waste  their 
time  and  money,  and  to  acquire  habits  of  intemper- 
ance and  idleness,  that  we  often  see  reduce  many  to 


GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR,  • 

beggary  and  vice,  and  lead  some  of  them,  at  least, 
to  prison  and  the  gallows." 

In  entering  upon  her  career  as  a  State,  Massachu- 
setts continued  the  license  system,  laying  upon  it 
many  prudent  restrictions,  all  of  which  were  of  no 
avail,  for  the  testimony  is  complete  as  to  the  steady 
increase  of  drunkenness,  crime  and  debauchery. 

TESTIMONY  OF  JOHN  ADAMS. 

Writing  to  Mr.  Rush  in  1811,  John  Adams  says : 
"Fifty-three  years  ago  I  was  fired  with  a  zeal, 
amounting  to  enthusiasm,  against  ardent  spirits,  the 
multiplication  of  taverns,  retailers,  dram-shops  and 
tippling-houses.  Grieved  to  the  heart  to  see  the 
number  of  idlers,  thieves,  sots  and  consumptive  pa- 
tients made  for  the  physicians  in  these  infamous 
seminaries,  I  applied  to  the  Court  of  Sessions, 
procured  a  Committee  of  Inspection  and  Inquiry, 
reduced  the  number  of  licensed  houses,  etc.,  but  1 
only  acquired  the  reputation  of  a  hypocrite  and  an 
ambitious  demagogue  by  it.  The  number  of  licensed 
houses  was  soon  reinstated ;  drams,  grog  and  sotting 
were  not  diminished,  and  remain  to  this  day  as  de- 
plorable as  ever" 

OPENING  A  WIDER  DOOR. 

In  1816,  so  demoralized  had  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  become,  and  so  strong  the  liquor  interest  of 
the  State,  that  the  saving  provision  in  the  license 
laws,  which  limited  the  sale  of  liquor  to  inns  and 


THE  CURSE  ASD  THE  CURE.  297 

taverns,  was  repealed,  and  licenses  were  granted  to 
common  victualers,  "  who  shall  not  be  required  to 
furnish  accommodations  "  for  travelers ;  and  also  to 
confectioners  on  the  same  terms  as  to  inn-keepers ; 
that  is,  to  sell  and  to  be  drunk  on  the  premises.  This 
change  in  the  license  laws  of  Massachusetts  was  de- 
clared, by  Judge  Aldrich,  in  1867,  to  be  "  one  of 
the  most  fruitful  sources  of  crime  and  vice  that  ever 
existed  in  this  Commonwealth." 

Up  to  as  late  as  1832,  attempts  were  continued  to 
patch  up  and  amend  the  license  laws  of  the  State ; 
after  that  they  were  left,  for  a  time,  to  do  their  evil 
work,  all  efforts  to  make  them  anything  but  pro- 
moters of  drunkenness,  crime  and  poverty  being 
regarded  as  fruitless. 

"  Miserable  in  principle,"  says  Judge  Pitman, 
"  license  laws  were  found  no  less  inefficient  in  prac- 
tice." Meantime,  the  battle  against  the  liquor 
traffic  had  been  going  on  in  various  parts  of  the 
State.  In  1835,  a  law  was  secured  by  which  the 
office  of  county  commissioner  (the  licensing  authority) 
was  made  an  elective  office ;  heretofore  it  had  been 
held  by  appointment.  This  gave  the  people  of  each 
county  a  local  control  over  the  liquor  question,  and 
in  the  very  first  year  the  counties  of  Plymouth  and 
Bristol  elected  boards  committed  to  the  policy  of  no 
license.  Other  counties  followed  this  good  example ; 
and  to  bar  all  questions  of  the  right  to  refuse  every 
license  by  a  county,  the  power  was  expressly  con- 
ferred by  a  law  passed  in  1837. 


298          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 
A  CHANGE  FOR  THE  BETTER. 

The  good  results  were  immediately  apparent  in 
all  places  where  license  to  sell  intoxicating  drinks 
was  refused.  After  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
matter,  the  Judiciary  Committee  of  the  Legislature 
reported  the  evidence  to  be  "  perfectly  incontrovert- 
able,  that  the  good  order  and  the  physical  and  moral 
welfare  of  the  community  had  been  promoted  by 
refusing  to  license  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits;  and 
that  although  the  laws  have  been  and  are  violated 
to  some  extent  in  different  places,  the  practice  soon 
becomes  disreputable  and  hides  itself  from  the 
public  eye  by  shrinking  into  obscure  and  dark 
places ;  that  noisy  and  tumultuous  assemblies  in  the 
streets  and  public  quarrels  cease  where  license  is 
refused ;  and  that  pauperism  has  very  rapidly  di- 
minished from  the  same  cause." 

An  attempt  to  prohibit  entirely  the  retail  liquor 
traffic  was  made  in  1838,  by  the  passage  of  what 
was  known  as  the  "Fifteen-Gallon  Law,"  which 
forbade  the  sale  of  spirituous  liquors  in  a  less  quan- 
tity than  fifteen  gallons,  which  had  to  be  "  carried 
away  all  at  one  time ;"  except  by  apothecaries  and 
practicing  physicians,  who  might  sell  for  use  in  the 
arts  and  for  medicinal  purposes. 

But  this  law  remained  in  operation  only  a  year 
and  a  half;  when,  in  concession  to  the  liquor  in- 
terest of  the  State,  which  had  been  strong  enough 
to  precipitate  a  political  revolution  and  get  its  own 
men  in  the  legislature,  it  was  repealed. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  299 

"  But  the  State,"  says  Judge  Pitman,  "  while  the 
memory  of  license  was  fresh,  was  not  to  fall  again 
under  its  sway.  The  struggle  for  local  prohibition 
was  at  once  renewed,  and  in  a  few  years  license  had 
ceased  throughout  the  Commonwealth.  The  state- 
ment may  surprise  many ;  but  I  have  the  authority 
of  the  city  clerk  of  Boston  for  saying,  that  '  no 
licenses  for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  were 
granted  in  Boston  between  1841  and  1852.'  *  *  * 
And  so  the  chapter  of  license  was  apparently  closed. 
It  had  not  only  had  its  '  day,'  but  its  centuries  in 
court;  and  the  well-nigh  unanimous  verdict  was: 
1  disgrace — failure?  ' 

So  strong  was  this  conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  Massachusetts,  that  Governor  Bullock,  in 
1861,  while  acting  as  chairman  of  the  Judiciary 
Committee  of  the  House,  gave  it  expression  in  these 
notable  words :  "  It  may  be  taken  as  the  solemnly 
declared  judgment  of  the  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth, that  the  principle  of  licensing  the  traffic  in 
intoxicating  drinks  as  a  beverage,  and  thus  giving 
legal  sanction  to  that  which  is  regarded  in  itself  as 
an  evil,  is  no  longer  admissible  in  morals  or  in  legis- 
lation" 

THE  LIQUOK  POWEK  IN  THE  ASCENDANT  AGAIN. 

But  in  1868,  adverse  influences  prevailed,  and 
after  all  her  sad  and  disgraceful  experience,  Massa- 
chusetts abandoned  her  prohibition  of  the  traffic 
and  went  back  to  license  again  ;  but  the  evil  conse- 


300         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

quences  began  to  show  themselves  so  quickly  that 
the  law  was  repealed  in  less  than  a  year. 

Governor  Claflin,  in  his  message  to  the  legisla- 
ture in  January,  1869,  thus  speaks  of  the  effect  of 
the  new  license  law :  "  The  increase  of  drunkenness 
and  crime  during  the  last  six  months,  as  compared 
with  the  same  period  of  1867,  is  very  marked  and 
decisive  as  to  the  operation  of  the  law.  The  State 
prisons,  jails  and  houses  of  correction  are  being 
rapidly  filled,  and  will  soon  require  enlarged  ac- 
commodation if  the  commitments  continue  to  in- 
crease as  they  have  since  the  present  law  went  in 
force." 

While  the  chaplain  of  the  State  prison  in  his 
annual  report  for  1868,  says:  "The  prison  never 
was  so  full  as  at  the  present  time.  If  the  rapidly 
increasing  tide  of  intemperance,  so  greatly  swollen 
by  the  present  wretched  license  law,  is  suffered  to 
rush  on  unchecked,  there  will  be  a  fearful  increase 
of  crime,  and  the  State  must  soon  extend  the  limits 
of  the  prison,  or  create  another." 

This  law  was  repealed,  as  we  have  seen.  A  year 
of  its  bitter  fruit  was  enough  for  the  people. 

SUBMITTING  AGAIN  TO  THE  YOKE. 

But,  strange  to  say,  after  all  she  has  suffered  from 
license  laws,  the  old  Bay  State  has  again  submitted  to 
the  yoke,  and  is  once  more  in  the  hands  of  the  great 
liquor  interest.  In  1874,  she  drifted  out  from  the 
safe  harbor  of  prohibition,  and  we  find  her,  to-day, 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  OQ^ 

on  the  stormy  and  storm -wrecked  sea  of  license. 
A  miserable  attempt  has  been  made  by  the  friends 
of  this  law  to  show  that  its  action  has  been  salutory 
in  Boston,  the  headquarters  of  the  liquor  power,  in 
the  diminution  of  dram-shops  and  arrests  for  drunk- 
enness. Water  may  run  up  hill  in  Boston ;  but  it 
obeys  the  law  of  gravitation  in  other  places.  We 
leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  conclusions  from  this 
extract  from  the  report  of  the  License  Commissioners 
of  that  city,  made  February  1st,  1877 :  "  It  must 
be  admitted  that  the  business  of  liquor-selling  in 
this  city  is,  to  a  very  large  extent,  in  the  hands  of 
irresponsible  men  and  women,  whose  idea  of  a  license 
law  ends  with  the  simple  matter  of  paying  a  certain 
sum,  the  amount  making  but  little  difference  to 
them,  provided  they  are  left  to  do  as  they  please 
after  pagment.  Besides  the  saloons  and  bar-rooms, 
which  are  open  publicly,  the  traffic  in  small  grocery 
stores,  in  cellars  and  in  dwelling-houses,  in  some 
parts  of  the  city,  is  almost  astounding.  The  Sunday 
trade  is  enormous,  and  it  seems  as  if  there  were  not 
hours  enough  in  the  whole  round  of  twenty-four,  or 
days  enough  in  the  entire  week  to  satisfy  the  dealers." 

The  experience  of  Massachusetts  is,  as  we  have 
already  said,  the  experience  of  every  community, 
State  or  nation  in  which  an  effort  has  been  made  to 
abridge  the  evils  of  intemperance  by  licensing  the 
dram-shop. 

And  to  whom  and  to  what  class  of  citizens  does 
the  State  accord,  under  license,  the  privilege  of 


302         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

maMug  gain  out  of  the  people's  loss  ?  For  whom 
is  every  interest  in  the  nation  taxed  and  every  in- 
dustry hurt  ?  For  whom  are  the  houses  of  the  poor 
made  poorer ;  and  the  supply  of  bread  diminished  ? 
For  whom  are  a  crime-assaulted  and  pauper-ridden 
people  driven  to  build  jails  and  poor-houses,  and 
insane  asylums,  and  maintain  courts  and  juries  and 
a  vast  army  of  police,  at  the  cost  of  millions  of 
dollars  every  year? 

For  great  benefactors  to  whom  the  nation  owes  a 
debt  of  gratitude  ?  For  men  who  are  engaged  in 
great  industrial  or  commercial  enterprises?  Pro- 
moters of  education  ?  leaders  in  the  great  march  of 
civilization  ?  Even  if  this  were  so,  better  not  to  have 
accepted  the  service  than  pay  for  it  at  so  fearful  a  cost. 

Who  and  what  are  these  men  ? — this  great  priv- 
ileged class  ?  Let  us  see.  In  Boston,  we  have  the 
testimony  of  the  License  Commissioners  that  liquor- 
selling  is  in  the  hands  of  "  irresponsible  men  and 
women,"  who  pay  a  license  for  the  privilege  of  doing 
"  as  they  please  after  payment."  And  for  the  main- 
tenance of  these  "irresponsible"  men  and  women 
in  their  right  to  corrupt  and  degrade  the  people,  a 
forced  tax  is  laid  on  every  bit  of  property  and  every 
interest  in  the  great  city  of  Boston !  What  was  the 
tax  on  tea  to  this  ?  And  yet,  Boston  patiently  sub- 
mits! 

Is  it  better  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, Cincinnati,  Chicago  or  any  other  of  our 
large  cities?  Not  a  whit!  In  some  it  is  worse, 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  g()3 

even,  than  in  the  capital  of  the  old  Bay  State.  In 
one  of  these  last-mentioned  cities,  where,  under  the 
license  system  so  dear  to  politicians,  and  for  which 
they  are  chiefly  responsible,  between  seven  and  eight 
thousand  places  in  which  liquor  is  sold  at  retail 
exist,  an  effort  was  made  in  1876  to  ascertain  the 
character  and  antecedents  of  every  person  engaged 
in  dram-selling.  We  are  not  able  to  say  how  care- 
fully or  thoroughly  the  investigation  was  pursued, 
but  it  was  in  the  hands  of  those  who  meant  that  it 
should  be  complete  and  accurate.  One  fact  elicited 
was,  that  the  proportion  of  native-born  citizens  to 
the  whole  number  engaged  in  the  business  was  less 
than  one-sixth.  Another  was,  that  over  six  thou- 
sand of  these  dram-sellers  belonged  to  the  criminal 
class,  and  had  suffered  imprisonment,  some  for  ex- 
tended terms  in  the  State  prison.  And  another  was, 
that  nearly  four  thousand  of  the  drinking-places 
which  had  been  established  under  the  fostering  care 
of  State  license  laws  were  houses  of  ill-fame  as  well! 
Comment  is  unnecessary. 

We  cannot  lessen  the  evil  nor  abate  the  curse  of 
drunkenness  so  long  as  we  license  a  traffic,  which, 
from  its  essential  hostility  to  all  the  best  interests  of 
society,  naturally  falls  into  the  hands  of  our  worst 
citizens,  who  persistently  violate  every  salutory  and 
restrictive  feature  in  the  laws  which  give  their  trade 
a  recognized  existence. 

What  then  ?  Is  there  any  remedy  short  of  Pro- 
hibition ?  We  believe  not. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

PROHIBITION. 

PT  has  taken  nearly  half  a  century  to  convince  the 
-L  people  that  only  in  total  abstinence  lies  any 
hope  of  cure  for  the  drunkard.  When  this  doctrine 
was  first  announced,  its  advocates  met  with  opposi- 
tion, ridicule  and  even  insult.  Now  it  has  almost 
universal  acceptance.  The  effort  to  hold  an  inebri- 
ate's appetite  in  check  by  any  restriction  that  in- 
cluded license,  has,  in  all  cases,  proved  so  signal  a 
failure,  that  the  "  letting  down,"  or  "  tapering  off" 
process  has  been  wholly  abandoned  in  inebriate  asy- 
lums. There  is  no  hope,  as  we  have  said,  but  in 
complete  abstinence. 

NO  REMEDY  BUT  PROHIBITION. 

Is  there  any  other  means  of  cure  for  national 
drunkenness?  The  remedy  of  license  has  been 
found  as  valueless  for  the  whole  people  as  restriction 
for  the  individual.  Appetite,  when  once  depraved, 
becomes,  in  the  individual,  lawless,  exacting  and 
unscrupulous ;  not  hesitating  to  trample  on  duty, 
justice,  humanity  and  every  public  and  private 
virtue.  It  will  keep  no  faith ;  it  will  hold  to  no 
pledge,  however  solemnly  taken.  It  must  be  wholly 
denied  or  it  will  be  wholly  master. 
304 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE. 

As  in  the  individual,  so  in  the  nation,  State  or 
community.  Appetite  loses  nothing  by  aggrega- 
tion ;  nor  are  the  laws  of  its  action  changed.  If  not 

o 

denied  by  prohibition  in  the  State,  as  by  total  absti- 
nence in  the  individual,  it  will  continue  to  entail 
upon  the  people  loss  and  ruin  and  unutterable  woes. 
License,  restrictive  permission,  tax,  all  will  be  vain  in 
the  future  as  they  have  been  in  the  past.  There  is  no 
hope,  no  help,  no  refuge  in  anything  but  Prohibition  ! 

And  here  we  art  met  by  two  questions,  fairly  and 
honestly  asked.  First.  Is  prohibition  right  in  the 
abstract  as  a  legislative  measure?  Second.  Can 
prohibitory  laws  be  enforced,  and  will  they  cure  the 
evil  of  drunkenness  ? 

First,  as  to  the  question  of  legislative  action. 
Can  the  State  forbid  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks 
as  a  beverage  without  violating  the  natural  right  of 
certain  citizens,  engaged  in  the  manufacture  and  sale 
of  these  articles,  to  supply  them  to  customers  who 
wish  to  purchase? 

We  answer,  that  no  man  has  a  natural  right  to 
do  wrong;  that  is,  to  engage  in  any  pursuit  by 
which  he  makes  gain  out  of  loss  and  injury  to  his 
neighbor.  The  essential  principle  of  government 
is  the  well-being  of  the  people.  It  guarantees  to 
the  weak,  security  against  the  strong ;  it  punishes 
evil  doers,  and  seeks  to  protect  its  citizens  from  the 
evil  effects  of  that  unscrupulous  selfishness  in  the 
individual  which  would  trample  on  the  rights  of  all 
the  rest  in  its  pursuit  of  money  or  power. 


30G          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

Now,  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  liquor  traffic  is 
a  good  thing;  that  it  benefits  the  people;  makes 
them  more  prosperous  and  happy ;  improves  their 
health ;  promotes  education  and  encourages  virtue, 
then  its  right  to  exist  in  the  community  has  been  es- 
tablished. Or,  even  if  the  good  claimed  for  it  be  only 
negative  instead  of  positive,  its  right  must  still  be 
unquestioned.  But  what  if  it  works  evil  and  only 
evil  in  the  State  ?  What  if  it  blights  and  curses 
every  neighborhood,  and  town,  and  city,  and  nation 
in  which  it  exists ;  laying  heavy  taxes  upon  the 
people  that  it  may  live  and  flourish,  crippling  all 
industries ;  corrupting  the  morals  of  the  people ; 
enticing  the  young  from  virtue ;  filling  jails,  and 
poor-houses,  and  asylums  with  a  great  army  of 
criminals,  paupers  and  insane  men  and  women, 
yearly  extinguishing  the  light  in  thousands  of  happy 
homes  ?  What  then  ? 

Does  this  fruit  of  the  liquor  traffic  establish  its 
right  to  existence  and  to  the  protection  of  law  ?  Let 
the  reader  answer  the  question  for  himself.  That 
it  entails  all  of  these  evils,  and  many  more,  upon 
the  community,  cannot  and  will  not  be  denied. 
That  it  does  any  good,  cannot  be  shown.  Fairly, 
then,  it  has  no  right  to  existence  in  any  government 
established  for  the  good  of  the  people ;  and  in  sup- 
pressing it,  no  wrong  can  be  done. 

PROHIBITION  NOT  UNCONSTITUTIONAL. 

How  the  question  of  prohibition  is  regarded  by 
the  highest  legal  authority  in  the  United  States  will 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3Q7 

appear  from  the  following  opinions  officially  given 
by  four  of  the  Justices  of  our  Supreme  Court.  They 
are  expressed  in  no  doubtful  or  hesitating  form  of 
speech : 

Chief  Justice  Taney  said :  "  If  any  State  deems 
the  retail  and  internal  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  inju- 
rious to  its  citizens,  and  calculated  to  produce  idle- 
ness, vice  or  debauchery,  I  see  nothing  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  to  prevent  it  from 
regulating  or  restraining  the  traffic,  or  from  pro- 
hibiting it  altogether,  if  it  thinks  proper." — [5 
Howard,  577.] 

Hon.  Justice  McLean  said:  "A  license  to  sell  is 
a  matter  of  police  and  revenue  within  the  power  of 
the  State."— [5  Ibid.,  589.]  "  If  the  foreign  article 
be  injurious  to  the  health  and  morals  of  the  com- 
munity, a  State  may  prohibit  the  sale  of  it." 

Hon.  Justice  Catron  said :  "  If  the  State  has  the 
power  of  restraint  by  license  to  any  extent,  she  may 
go  to  the  length  of  prohibiting  sales  altogether." — 
[5  Ibid.,  611.] 

Hon.  Justice  Grier  said :  "  It  is  not  necessary  to 
array  the  appalling  statistics  of  misery,  pauperism 
and  crime  which  have  their  origin  in  the  use  and 
abuse  of  ardent  spirits.  The  police  power,  which 
is  exclusively  in  the  State,  is  competent  to  the  cor- 
rection of  these  great  evils,  and  all  measures  of  re^- 
straint  or  prohibition  necessary  to  effect  that  purpose 
are  within  the  scope  of  that  authority." — [Ibid.,  532.] 

That  the  State  has  a  clear  right  to  prohibit  the 


308         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  because  this  sale  not 
only  hurts  all  other  interests,  but  destroys  the  health 
and  degrades  the  morals  of  the  people,  has  been 
fully  shown. 

The  question  next  to  be  considered  is,  Can  pro- 
hibitory laws  be  enforced  ?  and  if  so,  will  they  re- 
move from  the  people  the  curse  of  drunkenness  ? 

CAN  PROHIBITORY  LAWS  BE  ENFORCED? 

As  to  the  complete  enforcement  of  any  salutory 
law,  that  depends  mainly  on  the  public  sentiment 
regarding  it,  and  on  the  organized  strength  of  its 
opposers.  If  the  common  sentiment  of  the  people 
were  in  favor  of  every  man's  liberty  to  steal  what- 
ever he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  it  would  be  found 
very  difficult  to  convict  a  rogue,  nO  matter  how 
clearly  expressed  the  law  against  stealing.  A  single 
thief  in  the  jury-box  could  defeat  the  ends  of  justice. 
A  hundred  loop-holes  for  escape  can  always  be 
found  in  the  provisions  of  a  law  with  which  the 
majority  of  the  people  are  not  in  sympathy.  In- 
deed, it  often  happens  that  such  loop-holes  are  pro- 
vided by  the  law-makers  themselves;  and  this  is 
especially  true  in  too  many  of  the  laws  made  for 
the  suppression  of  the  liquor  trade. 

Is  this  an  argument  against  the  enactment  of  laws 
to  protect  the  people  /rom  great  wrongs — especially 
the  weaker  and  more  helpless  ones  ?  To  the  half- 
hearted, the  indifferent  and  the  pusillanimous — yes ! 
But  with  brave,  true  men,  who  have  at  heart 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3(jj) 

tho  best  interests  of  humanity,  this  can  only  inten- 
sify opposition  to  wrong,  and  give  strength  for  new 
efforts  to  destroy  its  power.  These  have  an  undying 
faith  in  the  ultimate  victory  of  good  over  evil,  and 
mean,  so  far  as  they  are  concerned,  that  the  battle 
shall  continue  until  that  victory  is  won. 

Judge  Pitman  has  eloquently  expressed  this  sen- 
timent in  the  closing  pages  of  his  recent  work,  to 
which  we  have  more  than  once  referred.  Speaking 
of  those  who  distrust  the  practicability  of  securing 
such  legislation  as  will  effectually  destroy  the  liquor 
trade,  he  says :  "  They  are  appalled  at  the  power  of 
the  traffic.  They  see  that  it  has  uncounted  wealth 
at  its  command ;  that  it  is  organized  and  unscrupu- 
lous ;  that  it  has  the  support  of  fierce  appetite  be- 
hind it  and  the  alliance  of  every  evil  lust ;  that  it 
is  able  to  bribe  or  intimidate  the  great  political 
parties.  All  this  is  true ;  but  still  it  is  not  to  be  the 
final  victor.  It  has  all  the  elemental  moral  forces 
of  the  human  race  against  it,  and  though  their 
working  be  slow,  and  their  rate  of  progress  depen- 
dent on  human  energy  and  fidelity,  the  ultimate 
result  is  as  certain  as  the  action  of  the  law  of  gravity 
in  the  material  universe.  Wealth  may  be  against 
us ;  rank  may  affect  to  despise  us ;  but  the  light 
whose  dawn  makes  a  new  morning  in  the  world, 
rarely  shines  from  palace  or  crown,  but  from  the 
manger  and  the  cross.  Before  the  aroused  consciences 
of  the  people,  wielding  the  indomitable  will  of  a  State, 
the  destroyers  of  soul  and  body  shall  go  down  forever/' 


310          GRAPPLING   WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

THE  VA  [-UE  OF  PROHIBITORY  LAWS  WHEN  ENFORCED. 

It  remains  now  to  show  how  far  prohibitory  laws, 
when  enforced,  have  secured  the  end  for  which  they 
were  created.  On  this  point,  the  evidence  is  clear 
and  satisfactory.  In  Vermont,  a  prohibitory  law 
has  existed  for  over  twenty-three  years.  In  some 
parts  of  the  State  it  is  rigidly  enforced ;  in  others 
with  less  severity.  Judge  Peck,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  says :  "  The  law  has  had  an  effect  upon  our 
customs,  and  has  done  away  with  that  of  treating 
and  promiscuous  drinking.  *  *  *  In  attending 
court  for  ten  years,  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen- 
a  drunken  man"  In  St.  Johnsbury,  where  there 
is  a  population  of  five  thousand,  the  law  has  been 
strictly  enforced ;  and  the  testimony  in  regard  to 
the  town  is  this :  "  There  is  no  bar,  no  dram-shop, 
no  poor,  and  no  policeman  walks  the  streets.  It  is 
the  workingman's  paradise." 

Connecticut  enacted  a  prohibitory  law  in  1854. 
In  1855,  Governor  Dutton  said,  in  his  annual  mes- 
sage to  the  General  Assembly :  "  There  is  scarcely 
an  open  grog-shop  in  the  State,  the  jails  are  fast 
becoming  tenantless,  and  a  delightful  air  of  security 
is  everywhere  enjoyed." 

In  Meriden,  the  chaplain  of  the  reform  school 
testified  that  "crime  had  diminished  seventy-five 
per  cent."  In  New  London,  the  jail  was  tenantless. 
In  Norwich,  the  jails  and  almshouses  were  reported 
"  as  almost  empty."  But  in  1873,  the  liquor  influ- 
ence was  strong  enough  in  the  legislature  to  substi- 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3  J  j[ 

tute  license  for  prohibition.  The  consequence  was 
an  immediate  increase  of  drunkenness  and  crime. 
Two  years  afterwards,  the  Secretary  of  State  de- 
clared that  "  there  was  a  greater  increase  of  crime 
in  one  year  under  license  than  in  seven  years  under 
prohibition." 

Vineland,  New  Jersey,  has  a  population  of  ten 
thousand.  Absolute  prohibition  is  the  law  of  that 
community.  One  constable,  who  is  also  overseer  of 
the  poor,  is  sufficient  to  maintain  public  order.  In 
1875,  his  annual  report  says:  "  We  have  practically 
no  debt.  *  *  *  The  police  expenses  of  Vine- 
land  amount  to  seventy-five  dollars  a  year,  the  sum 
paid  to  me,  and  our  poor  expenses-are  a  mere  trifle." 

In  Potter  County,  Pennsylvania,  there  has  been 
a  prohibitory  law  for  many  years.  Hon.  John  S. 
Mann  says :  "  Its  effect,  as  regards  crime,  is  marked 
and  conspicuous.  Our  jail  is  without  inmates,  ex- 
cept the  sheriff,  for  more  than  half  the  time." 

Other  instances  of  local  prohibition  in  this  country 
could  be  given,  but  these  are  sufficient. 

Bessbrook,  a  town  in  Ireland  of  four  thousand 
inhabitants,  has  no  liquor-shop,  and  whisky  and 
strong  drink  are  strictly  prohibited.  There  is  no 
poor-house,  pawn-shop  or  police-station.  The  town 
is  entirely  free  from  strife,  discord  or  disturbance. 

In  the  county  of  Tyrone,  Ireland,  no  drinking  house 
is  allowed.  In  1870,  Right  Hon.  Claude  Hamilton 
said :  "At  present  there  is  not  a  single  policeman  in 
that  district.  The  poor-rates  are  half  what  they 


312          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

were  before,  and  the  magistrates  testify  to  the  great 
absence  of  crime." 

In  many  parts  of  England  and  Scotland  there  is 
local  prohibition,  and  the  uniform  testimony  as  to 
the  absence  of  pauperism  and  crime  is  as'unequivo- 
cal  as  that  given  above. 

THE  MAINE  LAW— ITS  COMPLETE  VINDICATION. 

But  it  is  to  the  State  of  Maine,  where  a  prohibi- 
tory law  has  existed  for  over  a  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  where  prohibition  has  been  put  to  the  severest 
tests,  that  we  must  look  for  the  more  decisive  proofs 
of  success  or  failure. 

On  the  evidence  which  Maine  furnishes,  the  ad- 
vocates of  legal  suppression  are  content  to  rest  their 
case.  In  order  to  get  a  brief,  but  thoroughly  ac- 
curate and  reliable  history  of  the  Maine  law,  we 
addressed  a  letter  to  Hon.  Neal  Dow,  of  Portland, 
Maine,  asking  him  to  furnish  us,  for  this  volume, 
with  the  facts  and  evidence  by  which  our  readers 
could  for  themselves  judge  whether  the  law  were  a 
dead  letter,  as  some  asserted,  or  effective  and  salutory. 
In  reply,  Mr.  Dow  has  kindly  furnished  us  with  the 
following  deeply  interesting  and  important  commu- 
nication : 

TESTIMONY  OF  HON.  NEAL  DOW. 

PORTLAND,  October  12th,  1877. 
T.  S.  ARTHUR,  ESQ.  : 

Dear  Sir — I  will  gladly  furnish  you  with  a  brief  history  of 
the  Maine  Law,  and  a  statement  of  its  operation  and  effects  in 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3]  3 

Maine,  in  the  hope  that  the  wide  circulation  of  the  work  you 
have  in  preparation  may  serve  to  correct  the  mistaken  notion 
that  prevails,  to  the  effect  that  the  law  has  failed  of  any  useful 
result,  and  that  the  liquor  traffic  is  carried  on  as  extensively 
in  Maine  as  ever  it  had  been,  with  all  its  baleful  effects  upon 
the  moral  and  material  interests  of  the  State. 

In  the  old  time  the  people  of  Maine  were  as  much  addicted 
to  the  use  of  strong  drinks  as  those  of  any  other  part  of  the 
country ;  and  the  effects  of  this  shocking  habit  were  seen  every- 
where in  shabby  buildings,  neglected  farms  and  in  wide-spread 
poverty.  There  were,  in  this  State,  magnificent  forests  of  the 
best  pine  timber  in  the  world.  The  manufacture  of  this  tim- 
ber into  "  lumber "  of  various  descriptions,  and  the  sale  of  it, 
were  the  leading  industries  of  Maine.  The  products  of  our 
vast  forests  were  sent  chiefly  to  the  West  India  Islands,  and 
the  returns  were  mostly  in  rum  and  in  molasses,  to  be  converted 
into  rum  by  our  own  distilleries,  of  which  there  were  many 
among  us,  in  various  parts  of  the  State — seven  of  them  in  this 
city,  running  night  and  day.  This  rum,  almost  the  whole  of 
it,  whether  imported  or  home-made,  was  consumed  among  our 
own  people.  It  was  sent  in  the  way  of  trade  and  in  exchange 
for  "  lumber  "  into  every  part  of  our  territory ;  not  a  town  or 
village,  or  rural  district  escaped,  however  remote  or  thinly 
populated  it  might  be. 

The  result  of  this  was,  that  almost  the  entire  value  of  all  this 
vast  industry  went  down  the  throats  of  our  people  in  the  shape 
of  rum,  either  imported  or  home-made.  I  have  heard  men  say 
who  had  been  extensively  engaged  in  this  lumber  trade,  that 
Maine  is  not  a  dollar  the  richer,  and  never  was,  on  account  of 
this  immense  business  ;  but  that  the  people  were  poorer  in  con- 
sequence of  it,  and  more  miserable  than  they  would  have  been 
if  the  pine  forests  had  been  swept  away  by  a  great  conflagra- 
tion. 

The  effects  of  this  course  of  trade  were  seen  everywhere 
throughout  the  State.  In  scarcely  any  part  of  it  was  there 
any  evidence  of  business  prosperity  or  thrift,  but,  generally, 


314         GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;   OR, 

there  was  abundant  evidence  of  poverty,  untidiness  and  decay. 
In  the  lumbering  towns  and  villages,  where  the  innumerable 
saw-mills  were,  the  greatest  bustle  and  activity  prevailed.  The 
air  resounded  with  the  loud  noises  coming  from  these  mills. 
Night  and  day  they  were  "  run,"  never  ceasing  until  the  "logs" 
were  "worked  up."  Relays  of  hands  were  employed  at  all  these 
lumbering  centres,  so  that  the  saw-mills  never  stopped  even  for 
an  hour  during  "  the  season,"  except  for  some  occasional  re- 
pairs. All  these  men  drank  rum  ;  a  quart  a  day  per  man  was 
a  moderate  quantity ;  but  a  great  many  of  them  required  tAvo 
quarts  a  day.  The  result  of  this  was,  that  the  entire  wages  of 
the  men  were  consumed  in  drink,  except  a  meagre  share  that 
Went  to  the  miserable  wives  and  children  at  home. 

Everywhere  throughout  the  State  the  results  of  this  way  of 
life  was  to  be  seen — in  the  general  poverty  of  the  people,  and 
in  the  shabbiness  ^f  all  their  surroundings.  But  some  persons 
conceived  the  idea  that  all  this  evil  was  not  necessary  and  in- 
evitable ;  that  it  came  from  the  liquor  traffic,  which  might  be 
prohibited  and  suppressed,  as  lottery-tickets,  gambling-houses 
and  impure  books  and  pictures  had  already  been.  And  they 
devoted  themselves  constantly  and  industriously  to  the  work 
of  correcting  the  public  opinion  of  the  people  as  to  the  liquor 
traffic  by  demonstrating  to  them  that  this  trade  was  in  deadly 
hostility  to  every  interest  of  the  State,  while  no  good  came 
from  it,  nor  could  come  from  it,  to  State  or  people. 

This  educational  work  was  carried  on  persistently  for  years ; 
meetings  were  held  by  these  persons  in  every  little  country- 
church  and  town-house,  and  in  every  little  wayside  school- 
house,  where  the  farmers  and  their  wives  and  children  assem- 
bled at  the  call  of  these  missionaries,  to  listen  to  their  burning 
denunciation  of  the  liquor  traffic,  which  lived  only  by  spread- 
ing poverty,  pauperism,  suffering,  insanity,  crime  and  prema- 
ture death  broadcast  over  the  State.  The  result  of  this  teach- 
ing was,  that  the  public  opinion  of  the  State  became  thoroughly 
changed  as  to  the  character  of  the  liquor  traffic  and  its  relation 
to  the  public  prosperity  and  welfare. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  315 

When  we  thought  the  time  had  come  for  it,  we  demanded  of 
the  Legislature  that  the  law  of  "  license,"  then  upon  the  statute 
books,  which  represented  the  public  opinion  of  the  old  time, 
should  be  changed  for  a  law  of  prohibition,  representing  the 
improved  public  opinion  of  the  present  time ;  and,  after  two 
unsuccessful  attempts  to  procure  such  a  law,  we  obtained  what 
we  desired,  an  act  of  absolute  prohibition  to  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  strong  drink — a  measure  for  which  we  had  labored 
long  and  industriously  for  many  years. 

At  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  this  statute,  now  known  as 
the  MAINE  LAW  the  world  over,  the  liquor  traffic  was  carried 
on  extensively  in  the  State,  wholesale  and  retail,  precisely  as 
it  is  now  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  in 
every  other  State  where  that  trade  is  licensed  and  protected  by 
the  law.  The  Maine  Law  went  into  operation  immediately 
upon  its  approval  by  the  Governor,  and  by  its  provisions, 
liquors  kept  for  sale  everywhere,  all  over  the  State,  were  liable 
to  bo  seized,  forfeited  and  destroyed,  and  the  owners  to  be  pun- 
ished by  fine  and  imprisonment.  The  municipal  authorities 
of  the  cities  and  towns  allowed  the  dealers  a  reasonable  time  to 
send  away  their  stocks  of  liquors  to  other  States  and  countries, 
where  their  sale  was  permitted  by  the  law. 

The  liquor-traders  availed  themselves  of  this  forbearance  of 
the  authorities,  and  did  generally  send  their  stock  of  liquors 
out  of  the  State.  The  open  sale  of  liquors  came  instantly  to 
an  end  throughout  all  our  territory,  and  where  it  continued,  it 
was  done  secretly,  as  other  things  are  done  in  violation  of  law. 
The  manufacture  of  intoxicating  liquors  was  entirely  stopped, 
so  that  in  all  the  State  there  was  absolutely  none  produced, 
except  cider,  which  might  be  made  and  used  for  vinegar. 

The  effect  of  this  policy  of  prohibition  to  the  liquor  traffic 
was  speedily  visible  in  our  work-houses,  jails  and  houses  of  cor- 
rections. The  jail  of  Cumberland  County,  the  most  populous 
of  the  State,  had  been  badly  over-crowded,  but  within  four 
months  of  the  enactment  of  the  law  there  were  but  five  prisoners 
in  it,  three  of  whom  were  liquor-sellers,  put  in  for  violation  of 


316          GRAPPLING  WITH  THE  MONSTER;    OR, 

the  law.  The  jails  of  Penobscot;  Kennebec,  Franklin,  Ox- 
ford and  York  were  absolutely  empty.  The  inmates  of  the 
work-houses  were  greatly  reduced  in  number,  and  in  some  of 
the  smaller  towns  pauperism  ceased  entirely. 

But,  during  all  this  time,  in  every  part  of  the  country,  re- 
ports were  industriously  circulated  that  the  law  was  inopera- 
tive for  good,  and  that  liquors  were  sold  in  Maine  as  freely  and 
in  as  large  quantities  as  before  the  law.  These  false  statements 
were  industriously  and  persistently  made  everywhere  by  thoso 
interested  in  the  liquor  trade,  and  by  those  impelled  by  appe- 
tite or  passion.  It  is  sufficient  for  me  to  say  here  that  the 
Maine  Law,  from  the  first,  has  been  as  faithfully  executed  as 
our  other  criminal  laws  have  been,  though  there  has  been,  at 
certain  times,  and  in  certain  localities,  considerable  complicity 
with  the  violators  of  it,  on  the  part  of  many  officers  of  the  law, 
so  that  the  Legislature  has  at  last  provided  heavy  penalties  for 
the  punishment  of  prosecuting  officers,  justices  of  the  peace  and 
judges  of  municipal  and  police  courts,  in  case  of  failure  in  their 
duty.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  judges  of  our 
higher  courts  have,  from  the  first,  been  true  to  their  duty  in. 
the  administration  of  this  law,  as  of  all  others. 

In  much  the  larger  part  of  Maine,  in  all  the  rural  districts, 
in  the  villages  and  smaller  towns,  the  liquor  traffic  is  absolutely 
unknown ;  no  such  thing  as  a  liquor-shop  exists  there,  either 
open  or  secret.  The  traffic  lingers  secretly  only  in  the  larger 
towns  and  cities,  where  it  leads  a  precarious  and  troubled  life — • 
only  among  the  lowest  and  vilest  part  of  our  foreign  popula- 
tion. Nowhere  in  the  State  is  there  any  visible  sign  of  this 
horrible  trade.  The  penalties  of  the  law,  as  they  now  stand, 
are  sufficient  to  extinguish  the  traffic  in  all  the  small  towns, 
and  to  drive  it  into  dens  and  dark  corners  in  the  larger  towns. 
The  people  of  Maine  now  regard  this  trade  as  living,  where  it 
exists  at  all,  only  on  the  misery  and  wretchedness  of  the  com- 
munity. They  speak  of  it  everywhere,  in  the  press,  on  the 
platform,  and  in  legislative  halls,  as  the  gigantic  crime  of 
crimes,  and  we  mean  to  treat  it  as  such  by  the  law. 


THE  CURSE  AND  THE  CURE.  3^7 

For  some  years  after  the  enactment  of  the  law,  it  entered 
largely  into  the  politics  of  the  State.  Candidates  were  nomi- 
nated by  one  pariy  or  the  other  with  reference  to  their  pro- 
clivities for  rum  or  their  hostility  to  it,  and  the  people  were 
determined  in  their  votes,  one  way  or  the  other,  by  this  consid- 
eration. 

Now,  the  policy  of  prohibition,  with  penalties  stringent 
enough  to  be  effective,  has  become  as  firmly  settled  in  this 
State  as  that  of  universal  education  or  the  vote  by  ballot.  The 
Republican  party,  in  its  annual  conventions,  during  all  these 
years,  has  affirmed,  unanimously,  its  "adhesion  to  prohibition 
and  the  vigorous  enforcement  of  laws  to  that  end ;"  and  the 
Democratic  party,  in  its  annual  convention  of  this  year,  re- 
jected, by  an  immense  majority,  and  with  enthusiastic  cheers, 
a  resolution,  proposed  from  the  floor,  in  favor  of  "  license." 

The  original  Maine  Law  was  enacted  by  a  vote  in  the  House 
of  eighty-six  to  forty,  and  iu  the  Senate  by  eighteen  to  ten. 
There  have  been  several  subsequent  liquor  laws,  all  in  the 
direction  of  greater  stringency ;  and  the  Legislature  of  this 
year  enacted  an  additional  law,  with  penalties  much  more 
stringent  than  any  which  had  preceded  it,  without  a  dissenting 
vote.  No  one  can  mistake  the  significance  of  this  fact ;  it  was 
an  unanimous  affirmation  of  adhesion  to  the  policy  of  prohibi- 
tion, after  a  steady  trial  of  it  and  experience  of  its  results  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  And,  since  that  time,  the 
people  have  passed  upon  it  at  the  late  annual  election  by  an 
approval  of  the  policy  and  of  the  men  who  favor  it — by  an 
immense  majority.  If  it  be  conceded  that  the  people  of  Maine 
possess  an  ordinary  share  of  intelligence  and  common  sense, 
this  result  would  be  impossible,  unless  the  effect  of  prohibition 
had  been  beneficial  to  the  State  and  to  them. 

While  we  were  earnestly  at  work  in  bringing  up  the  public 
opinion  of  the  State  to  the  point  of  demanding  the  prohibition 
of  the  liquor  traffic,  as  a  more  important  political  and  social 
question  than  any  other  or  all  others,  I  was  startled  at  hearing 
n,  gentleman  of  the  town  of  Raymond  declare  that  in  his  town 


318         GRAPPLING    WITH  THE  MONSTER;  OR, 

the  people  consumed  in  strong  drink  its  entire  valuation  an 
every  period  of  eighteen  years  eight  months  and  twenty-five 
days!  "Here  are  the  figures,"  he  said;  "  I  know  the  quantity 
of  liquor  brought  into  the  town  annually.  I  am  so  situated 
that  I  am  able  to  state  this  accurately,  beyond  all  possibility 
of  doubt,  except  that  liquors  may  be  brought  here  by  other 
than  the  ordinary  mode  of  transportation  without  my  knowl- 
edge; but  the  quantities  stated  in  this  paper  (which  he  held  in 
his  hand),  and  their  cost  are  within  my  knowledge.*'  This  was 
part  of  a  speech  to  his  fellow-townsmen,  and  his  statement  was 
admitted  to  be  true.  Now  there  is  not  a  drop  of  liquor  sold 
in  that  town,  and  there  has  not  been  any  sold  there  for  many 
years.  This  statement  may  strike  us  at  first  blush  to  1  e  tre- 
mendously exaggerated,  that  the  people  of  any  locality  should 
consume  in  strong  drink  the  entire  value  of  its  real  estate  and 
personal  property  in  every  period  of  less  than  twenty  years. 
But  let  us  examine  it. 

We  learn  from  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  that  the  annual 
liquor  bill  of  the  United  States  is  seven  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars. This  does  not  include  the  enormous  quantity  of  "  crooked 
whisky  "  which  has  been  put  upon  the  market  with  or  without 
the  knowledge,  consent,  assent  or  complicity  of  our  public 
officers,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  The  drink  bill  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  with  a  population  smaller  than  ours,  is  more 
than  this  by  many  millions.  This  valuation — seven  hundred 
millions  of  dollars — is  the  price,  by  the  quantity,  taken  from  the 
figures  as  they  come  into  the  public  office,  while  the  cost  to  the 
consumers  is  vastly  greater.  Now,  this  sum  with  annual  com- 
pound interest  for  ten  years,  amounts  to  the  enormous  figure 
of  eight  billions  nine  hundred  and  forty -four  millions  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  thousands  of  dollars — almost  nine  thousand 
millions  of  dollars!  For  twenty  years  the  amount  is  twenty- 
five  billions  two  hundred  and  forty-five  millions  six  hundred  and 
eighty -one  thousands  of  dollars.  Twenty-five  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-five  millions  of  dollars  and  more;  actually  as 
much,  within  a  fraction,  as  the  entire  value  of  the  personal  and 


THE  CURSE  AND   THE   CURE. 

landed  property  of  the  United  States !  My  friend  of  Raymond 
may  well  be  credited  in  the  statement  made  to  his  fellow- 
townsmen. 

Now,  as  the  result  of  the  Maine  Law,  in  Maine,  the  wealth 
and  prosperity  of  the  people  have  greatly  increased.  This  can 
be  seen  in  every  part  of  the  State,  and  is  obvious  to  the  most 
casual  observer  who  knew  what  Maine  was  before  the  law  of 
prohibition  and  knows  what  it  has  been  since  and  down  to  the 
present  time.  Evidences  of  industry,  enterprise  and  thrift 
everywhere,  instead  of  the  general  poverty,  unthrift  and  shab- 
binc?s  of  the  old  rum-time. 

The  share  of  Maine  of  the  National  drink-bill  would  be 
about  thirteen  millions  of  dollars,  and  but  for  the  Maine  Law, 
we  should  be  consuming  our  full  proportion  ;  but  now  I  feel 
myself  fully  warranted  in  saying  that  we  do  not  expend  in  that 
way  one-tenth  of  that  sum.  A  mayor  of  the  city  of  Portland, 
in  a  message  to  the  City  Council,  said  :  "  The  quantity  of 
liquor  now  sold  i*  not  one-fiftieth  part  as  much  as  it  was  before 
the  enactment  of  the  law."  The  difference,  whatever  it  may 
be,  between  the  sum  we  should  waste  in  strong  drink,  but  for 
the  law,  aud  that  which  we  actually  squander  in  that  way,  we 
have  in  our  pockets,  in  our  savings  banks  aud  in  our  business, 
so  that  Maine  has  suffered  far  less,  financially,  during  this 
crisis  than  any  other  part  of  the  country. 

I  have  said  the  driuk-bill  of  Maine,  but  for  prohibition, 
would  be  about  thirteen  millions  of  dollars  annually,  in  pro- 
portion to  that  of  the  whole  couutry.  Now,  this  sum,  with 
annual  compound  interest  at  six  per  cent.,  in  ten  years  will 
amount  to  one  hundred  and  seventy  millions  three  hundred 
and  nineteen  thousand  five  hundred  and  twenty-eight  dol- 
lars, and  in  twenty  years  to  four  hundred  and  sixty-three 
millions  eight  hundred  and  fifty-four  thousand  four  hundred 
and  twenty  dollars — more  than  twice  the  entire  valuation 
of  the  State  by  the  estimate  made  in  1870,  which  was  two 
hundred  and  twenty-four  millions  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars.  There 


320  GRAPPLING    WITH  THE  MONSTER. 

was  a  reason  then  for  the  fact,  that  iu  the  old  rum-time  the 
people  of  Maine  were  poor  and  unthrifty  iu  every  way — ana 
for  that  other  fact,  that  now  they  are  prosperous  and  flourish- 
ing, with  a  better  business  than  that  of  any  other  State,  pro- 
portionately. 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  Portland  a  great  conflagra- 
tion destroyed  ten  millions  of  dollars  in  1806,  burned  down 
half  the  town,  and  turned  ten  thousand  people  out  of  doors,  the 
prosperity  of  the  city  has  been  steadily  on  the  increase.  Its 
valuation,  in  1800,  was  twenty-one  millions  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-six  thousand  dollars,  and  iu  1870,  twenly-nine  millions 
four  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  dollars.  In  the  last  year  the  increase  iu  valuation,  iu 
spite  of  the  hard  times,  was  four  hundred  and  eighty  thousand 
dollars,  while  Boston,  with  free  rum,  has  lost  more  than  eight 
millions,  and  New  York  and  Brooklyn  has  experienced  an 
immense  depreciation. 

I  think  I  have  said  enough  to  satisfy  every  intelligent,  un« 
prejudiced  man  that  the  absolute  prohibition  and  suppression 
of  the  liquor  traffic  has  been  in  the  highest  interest  of  our  State 
and  people.  I  am  very  truly,  yours, 

NEAL  Dow. 

And  here  we  close  our  discussion  of  the  most 
important  of  all  the  social  questions  that  arc  to-day 
before  the  people  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  declare  it  as  our 
solemn  conviction,  that  until  the  liquor  traffic  is 
abolished,  and  the  evils  with  which  it  curses  the 
people  removed,  all  efforts  at  moral  reforms  must 
languish,  and  the  Church  find  impediments  in  her 
way  which  cannot  be  removed.  The  CURSE  is  upon, 
us,  and  there  is  but  one  CURE  :  Total  Abstinence,  by 
the  help  of  God,  for  the  individual,  and  Prohibition 
for  the  State. 


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